Human Order of Guardians: Howling Shadows
by TheShapeshifter100
Summary: After the events four years ago, Jackie didn't think she'd ever have to take up arms again. She was wrong. After a mysterious call from one of the Heads, Jackie starts a journey to the North Pole, alone, with HOG's fate in the balance. Who is this new immortal? Does he have Descendants? If so, are they a threat? Ideally read after the first arc, just so you know the characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Tah dah! Arc two is go!**

**This is probably the shortest out of all three of the arcs, with a total of thirty chapters. It's also darker, which is why the rating on this is higher than on the last one. So, to all you old fans, and new ones, welcome to the second arc in the Human Order of Guardians saga; Howling Shadows!**

A teenager with dark brown tied back hair, glasses and a pale blue hoodie sat on a bench in Burgess, her nose buried in a book. It was autumn and the wind was whipping around her forcefully, throwing bits of loose hair in her pale face as she read. 

What you'd never guess was that this nineteen year old was a Descendant of Jack Frost, and officially the most powerful, according to the Human Order of Guardians. 

It had been four years since she'd had to fight for their cause, and since then she'd grown from a gangly teen to more muscular young woman, due to her daily training in ice powers. 

Her armour had been sitting in her room, gathering dust, not expected to ever be used again. 

"Jackie!" 

I looked up from my book to see Jamie running towards me, his hair askew. He had had a growth spurt recently, so was catching up to me in height. 

"Hey Jamie." I said, marking my place and putting down the book. 

"Are you heading to the lake today? The others still want to see you practice." 

I chuckled slightly, in four years, I still only let Jamie watch me practice. I hadn't wanted the others to know, but they'd seen my panicked display four years ago and they'd pressured Jamie into telling them the truth. 

"Sorry, it's not happening." 

"Please?" 

I looked straight at him and saw he was doing puppy dog eyes, a face he had mastered and even managed to melt my heart. 

"You know what? Sure, although if they don't behave themselves..." the threat hung in the air. Jamie nodded earnestly. 

"They will! I'm sure of it." 

"I'll hold to you that." I said, but couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face. 

Jamie hopped onto the bench next to me and he started talking about his day. I didn't have much to say in reply, I wasn't going to university, much to my parent's horror. Instead I'd managed to get a summer job at Sally and Tina's bookshop, but at the minute I was unemployed. Our meeting place was in fact an area behind her shop. 

Jamie was saying about how Cupcake somehow has a boyfriend, when my phone went off.  
>He stopped in his story as I pulled it out, both of us confused. The only people who used this number were my parents, but they had no reason to call, right? <p>

I didn't recognise the number on screen, but I picked it up anyway. 

"Hello?" 

"Davies, thank goodness!" 

"Jason?" Jason was the Head of the Descendants of North, and he'd never called me  
>directly, ever. <p>

"How did you get this number?" 

"Doesn't matter, I need you to check something." 

"What?" 

"Remember the cave where you ended the war." 

I did my best not to wince, "Yes." 

"I need you to check in there. After that contact the rest of your Branch if something's off." 

"That's Pitch's base though!" 

"I know, but I doubt he'll bother you." From his tone I figured I shouldn't continue  
>questioning that. <p>

"Why me?" 

"I understand your reluctance, but I really need _you_ to do this." 

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, why couldn't he do this? 

"Alright, I'll go and look." 

"Thank you Davies." With that the line went out. 

I moved my phone from my ear, then looked from it to Jamie. 

"What is it? What have you to go see?" He asked. 

"The cave where the war ended." 

"Didn't you almost die there?" 

I almost flinched again, Jamie knew what happened down there, but that didn't make it any  
>less painful. <p>

"Yes, but it's safe now, apparently." 

"Can I go with you?" 

"Your mom would kill me." 

"All the more reason then." 

I grinned at him, which he returned. 

"Agreed, let's go." 

We walked from the centre of town to beyond the lake; once we were out of sight I formed an ice bridge and skates. I didn't even have to move my arms to do it anymore, moving ice with my mind was almost as natural as walking. 

By ice it took us half the time it would have taken then by walking, so in about half an hour we were outside the hole. 

I stopped the bridge at the edge, suddenly very unwilling to go in. It was a small, innocent looking hole, but looking at it gave me the feeling that I should run like hell away from it. It didn't help that I was thinking about what I'd left down there. I'd never seen it, but I'd heard descriptions and had nightmares; I'd never wanted to come back here. 

"You alright?" asked Jamie. Looking at him I could see fear in his eyes. 

"Yeah, just don't want to think about what I left down there." 

"It'll be okay." He reassured me, even though his own voice was shaking slightly. 

I let out a breath, and extended the bridge down, sending the pair of us down with it. 

We quickly reached the bottom and what I saw had my mouth fall open in shock. 

"There's nothing here." Said Jamie. 

The cave was dark. On the walls there were still huge icicles pointing towards a clear area on the floor. The rest was covered with frost. The rest of it looked how I remembered, and seemed to be unoccupied. 

Other than that there was nothing, and it scared me. 

"Why, why isn't there anything here?" I asked, panic rising. "If there's nothing here, then something's happened." 

I took out my phone and used it to light the cavern as I cautiously looked around. Still nothing. 

"Let's go." I said, spooked as I backed towards the exit. 

Jamie nodded, looking just as spooked as me. 

On the way back I tried ringing up the rest of my Branch, first by home phone, then mobile. There was no response. 

I dropped Jamie off at his house and went to the other's houses, just in case. I used the ice to make myself move faster, and I didn't care if anyone saw me. 

First was Tina and Sally, both of them lived in central Burgess which made things a little easier. Both were empty. 

Nigel's was on the edge of the town, and there was no answer from him either. 

Finally was Billy, who was in the next town over. No sign of him there either. 

Almost immediately I turned around and skated back to Burgess, checking the meeting place as I was out of ideas. No one there. 

I went back to Nigel's house, with one last person in mind. 

I pushed on Nigel's door, but finding it locked I went over the gate to try the back way.  
>When I tried the back door I found it unlocked, which was a cause for concern. <p>

I was too worried to really stop and notice what was in his house as I walked in. So all the gadgets and gizmos that Nigel loved building went ignored as I tried to find a phone. 

I found his mobile on the side next to a thick leather tome with title I didn't understand. In any other situation I'd love to flick through that book, just to look, but instead I picked the phone up, thumbing through the contacts. I found his brother Alec and tried calling him. 

Nothing from him either. 

Putting the phone down I decided that there was one more place I could try; the old war base. 

As I made to leave my foot came into contact with something solid. I looked down and saw that I'd stepped on a fallen photo frame. 

The glass was cracked, but not to the point where I couldn't see the photo. 

It was a picture of us, the Burgess Branch. 

The knot that had been slowly tying itself in my stomach suddenly tightened. The photo was a few years old and we were on a trip to NYC, we'd gone over a week in early January, the year after the war. I'd just started wearing my hoodie which at that point was still a little too big for me. 

Billy, who stood the tallest, had his arms around most of the group, his head in the middle with an enormous grin on his face. Tina was on the right with Sally on her other side. The pair looking calm and smiling serenely, although Tina looked slightly annoyed that Billy's elbow was around her neck. 

Nigel was directly on Billy's left, a broad grin on his face as well, not caring that Billy had his arm around his shoulders. I was on Nigel's left, wearing an unsure half smile with Nigel's arm around my shoulders and looking at Billy, a little confused by what he was doing. 

We were an odd bunch, but we were the closest set of friends you'd find in Burgess, and the fact that they might be gone... 

My throat started to burn and I hurriedly put the picture on the side, breathing in through my nose. 

_Get it together, you don't know what's happened yet._

I took another deep breath and headed for the door, I had to check that one last place.

**That photo, I do have a one shot in mind for that, however I'm having so much trouble writing it, so don't expect it for a while. And those who have read the one shots will know where Jackie got her hoodie from.**

**That's all for now, Shapeshifter out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A big thanks to AriAlene for following and favouriting. Good to see you back!**

I left Nigel's at top speed and skated back to the lake, it was getting dark by now so I expected that Jamie and his friends would be on their way to the lake, if not already there. 

I went straight past them as they began setting themselves down. 

"Jackie?" I heard Pippa ask, "What's the rush?" 

"Something's happened! I need to check something!" I called back from behind the rocks. 

The purple flower that marked the entrance was still there after all this time. I still used the Tunnel to head to the Departure Cavern every now and again, but I was still surprised to see it alive. 

I found the entrance hole and went straight down, silently begging that they were down there. 

I didn't stop the ice bridge as I went into the Departure Cavern and went straight through into the Main Cavern. 

"HELLO!" I yelled "ANYONE HERE?" 

Silence. 

I looked in all the caverns. The beds hadn't been slept in, the practice dummies and forges were gathering dust, but the Council Chamber was the worst. 

It was clear there had been some kind of struggle inside it. The giant earth table had been toppled and the chairs were scattered everywhere. On the floor were large patches of black sand and large canine footprints. 

This was conformation to the suspicion I had in the cave. The Descendants of Pitch had broken free. The very thought of it made my heart thud against my ribs in fear. 

I knew I needed to get out of here, to call Jason and get more of an idea of what might be going on, but there was something I wanted to do. 

I went down into the Cavern of the Dead. 

I ignored most of the large statues in the room and headed straight for the youngest looking. The last and youngest casualty of war; Penelope. 

I looked up at her statue's face, more confident in death than I'd ever seen her in life. 

I held my hand out in front of me and allowed an ice wreath to form, which I lowered onto pedestal. 

I didn't say anything, just looked up at her face and smiled slightly, her death had been tragic, but I'd learned to accept it and remember the good times we had. I can't say there were many, but that made them all the more precious. 

With my moment of complacency over with, I left to call Jason. 

"Empty? The cavern was empty?" 

"Yes, and I can't contact any other member of HOG. I even went to the old war base to try and find you." 

"Did you find anyone?" 

"No, but I found something worrying, black sand and huge paw prints in the Council Chamber." 

"That is concerning." He didn't sound surprised, just accepting. 

"What can we do?" 

"I'm afraid I'm not much help to you now. You've just confirmed my suspicions." 

"What suspicions?" 

"We're all being captured by the Descendants of Pitch and another, unknown force. I am  
>imprisoned as we speak." <p>

"What?! Then how-?" 

"Doesn't matter. Now I can only say, keep moving and follow your instincts. They'll probably target you next." 

"But...How, what...?" I could feel my face dropping in shock. 

"Jackie, I need you calm now. Just keep moving, understand?" 

I managed to get it back under control. 

"...Understood." 

There was a gasp and roaring noise. 

"Jason? Jason!" I cried as a crunching noise filled the speaker, and the call cut off. 

I stopped in the Tunnel and stared at the phone, which was saying that the call had been cut off. I didn't want to believe what was happening, but I couldn't ignore it. 

Everyone was gone, my Branch, the Heads. Who knew what was going on with the rest of HOG, but I could imagine that something similar was happening. 

"No, please no." 

I could feel the back of my throat burning. I couldn't go through this again, alone. A part of me wanted to curl up in a corner somewhere and cry. My hand gripped the phone tighter and my head bent as I tried to stop the tears. 

I felt like my heart was being ripped out, the people I cared about, worked with, laughed with, trained with. Gone. 

The broken photo frame appeared in my mind and the feeling intensified. Despite my best  
>efforts, a tear did trickle out. <p>

I wiped it away quickly before it even had a chance to freeze. Even though there was no one there, and I really had every right to cry. 

_Crying never helped anyone, you can't help them like this._

Jason's words came back to me. Keep moving and follow your instincts. 

I had to get out of here before something happened. 

With that I straightened my shoulders and sniffed my suddenly blocked nose, put the phone in my pocket and continued to power my way out of the Tunnel. I burst out of the top and approached the lake in a slower fashion, walking instead of using my skates. 

I used this time to compose myself. I would probably have to tell Jamie that something was up, but I needed to look in control. 

Jamie and the others were still waiting, and their expression lit up when they saw me re-appear. 

One of the twins ran over, his faces alight with anticipation and excitement. 

"So, you're really letting us watch you practice tonight?" 

"I can't now, not tonight." 

"But Jamie said..." 

"I know, I agreed to it, but something's come up, and I need to go." In a split second of paranoia I looked over my shoulder. Were those shadows by the rocks darker than before? 

"Well, how long will you be?" asked Pippa, walking over with the others, clearly wondering what was going on. 

"I don't know. But I need to go, and you're not safe with me anymore." 

"You've had your powers under control for ages." Said Jamie, a little confused. 

"It's not that, something is hunting down and catching people like me. If you guys are around me, then you might get caught up in it too. So, until I say it's safe, I ask that you leave me alone. Okay?" 

"It's the cave isn't it?" asked Jamie, "Whatever was supposed to be the cave is looking for you." He knew full well what was supposed to be down there, so I thanked the stars he had the sense to keep quiet about the specifics. 

"Yes, now if you excuse me." 

I ran past them and kept up the speed all the way home. I burst through the door and ran upstairs without giving my parents a second thought, which naturally aroused their suspicion. 

"Jackie? What's going on?" 

"I don't know but I have to go!" I called back from my room, throwing changes of clothes and other essentials into a bag, such as a sleeping bag, water and non-perishable food. I needed to go, and my only plan of action was to cross my fingers and hope for the best. 

As much as I wanted to go and find my Branch, I had nothing to go on, right now there was nothing I could do except run. 

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked my mum, stepping into my room. 

"Something's happened to the others, it's not safe for me to stay, it's not safe for you to be around me right now." 

"It's not your powers is it?" 

"No, something else. Descendants of Pitch and a force I don't know. Everyone else is down so there's not much I can do." 

"What about last time everyone was unaccounted for? Didn't you go the Guardians?" 

I stopped mid packing and looked at her, a smile forming on my face. I couldn't help my Branch and the rest of HOG alone, but if I got help... 

"Mom you're a genius!" 

"Glad to hear that I've helped." 

I shouldered my bag and looked around for something I may have missed, when my eyes fell on my armour. Something big was happening; it may be time to put it on again. 

My mom followed my gaze. 

"Well, if you're going to be taking those, I've got something that'll make your life a little easier." 

"What?" 

"Wait right here and I'll show you." 

I waited impatiently for my mom to come back with what she was looking for. When she finally did she brought with her a hiking rucksack that was twice the size of mine. 

"Where were you keeping that?" I asked, taking it from her. 

"In the attic." She replied as I moved the stuff from my other bag into this one. "Your father and I used to go hiking before we had you. We always meant to take you with us, that was until..." 

I looked up from putting the clanking armour in the bag, "until I accidentally killed Daniel?" 

"I'm still surprised at how calmly you said that. The state you were in when it happened..." 

She shook her head and smiled, "Oh well, it's in the past now." 

I stood up with the bag on back. I didn't really feel much of a difference in the weight, although my armour was designed to be light. 

"Do have enough food to get you to the Guardians?" 

I paused for a second. The only place I could really think of to look was North's Workshop, and who knew how long it would take me to get there. 

"I don't know, but I'll hunt if I have to." 

"What about cooking? I know what you're like around fires." 

I paused again, this was looking more and more like a bad plan. 

"I'll take some money with me." I decided, "I'll stock up in any towns that I come across." 

I stuffed the change I could find in my pockets and my mom stood there and watched. 

"You know." I said, "I'm surprised you're not trying to stop me. I mean, the last time I disappeared..." 

"I can't stop you, and if you really believe that staying will put all of us in danger, I have no right to stop you." 

I looked over as my mom gave a small smile, "Besides, I've heard enough stories to know you'll be able to handle yourself, and I'm not going to tell you to keep out of trouble, because you can't promise that." 

"Mom..." I said, almost tearing up. 

"Just, try to come back, okay? Once this has been sorted out, you come home. You hear?" 

"I will. Thank you." 

To both mine and my mom's surprise, I pulled her into a hug, then pulled away, opened the window and disappeared into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

I didn't stop until I'd hit the border into New York State, at that point the sun had risen, and I was tired and hungry. 

I took my ice down in a small forest by the edge and set up some form of camp. I got as far as taking out my sleeping bag, then tiredness won and I slipped into it. Almost instantly I was out like a light. 

I woke up again when the sun was just dipping into the west. I scrambled out of my bag and got some food out, eating it cold, not that it bothered me. As I ate I planned my next step. 

It would be easier for me to go straight across the Canadian border after crossing New York, from there I'd have to cross the whole of Canada, while heading slightly east. Once I got to the coast I'd rest, then cross the sea to the Arctic and keep heading north until I hit the Workshop. 

I could travel at roughly the speed of a car if both my legs and my mind controlled the skates and if I didn't push myself too hard. Although my advantage to a car was that I wouldn't have to follow the roads. With that speed in mind, I estimated it would take me a week to get to the Arctic. My stomach twisted when my thoughts turned to my Branch, I had no idea where they were, or even if they were okay. 

I looked up into the sky to take my mind of it, so that I wouldn't start crying, and stared at the faint thin moon. Jack had told me about the Man in the Moon, how he watches over everyone, and how he's always willing to listen if you talk. Just don't expect much in the way of answer. 

I smiled at the moon and said. 

"Not trying to sound ungrateful, but I'd really like wind or shadow travel powers right about now." 

I chuckled to myself and shook my head. 

"Although, at least with my way I don't have to rely on hitchhiking, huh?" 

I packed up my stuff and set off again, making a small promise to myself to travel at night, the lower temperature wouldn't bother me, and I was less likely to be seen by any passersby. Above me the Northern Lights appeared, causing me to stop for a moment and look up at them in wonder. You rarely saw them this far south, the atmosphere was taking a beating tonight. 

The lights stirred a memory, and suddenly I remembered the last time I was at the North Pole, the Northern Lights were how North called the Guardians, something must be up with them as well if the lights were this far south. 

With that in mind I powered on, my journey suddenly more important than before. 

As tempting as it was I resisted the urge to take a detour to New York City. I wasn't sure how much time I had, plus if the Descendants of Pitch, Pitch himself or this new force found me there, it would just mean more people caught up in the conflict. 

However I did have to stop for supplies. I hadn't packed nearly enough to get me to the Pole, so I stopped behind a 24 hour petrol station and walked around to the front. 

The shop was still open, but deserted except for the bored looking cashier. He looked to be roughly middle aged with red hair hanging in his blue eyes that watched me as I crossed the shop. 

I went straight to trail stuff and quick eats, since I had no way or desire to cook. As I selected my food within my price range the door chime went. 

Now that I had stopped moving I was on edge, so my head darted up to see a normal looking person walk in. He looked to be in his teens, a little younger than me with dark spiky hair. However, no matter how normal this person looked, I needed to be on guard. 

I quickly picked up something within my price range and walked up the counter. As I did so the door chime went again and the first one slowly walked in my direction. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the lens of the security camera get covered in a black substance. 

This was not good. 

"Bit late to be out, isn't it?" asked the cashier and I winced internally. I needed to get out of here and he was striking up conversation. 

"Hmmm." I said in a nonchalant manner, but he wasn't deterred. 

"You can get some serious weirdos out here." 

"I can handle myself." I said as I handed over my money. The security camera on the other side of the counter had also gotten covered in sand, and the curved mirror behind the counter showed that there were three people standing behind me. All three had black hair; the closest one was the person who'd first walked in, the other two were girls roughly my age, one of whom was as tall as Pitch himself. 

There was no guarantee that all of them were Descendants of Pitch, but I couldn't take that risk. I wasn't even entirely sure what to do, if I sent ice, or even frost out then  
>I would be practically screaming that I'm with HOG, but it was clear that they already thought that. <p>

As I took my items from the cashier I saw the person behind me in the mirror holding his hand out towards my head, around eye level. In said hand was a flash of black. 

A sheet of ice went up between us, causing the cashier and my attacker to take a step back in shock or surprise respectively. 

The other two attacked, one of them I recognised as Purple Hair from five years ago. I turned, dropping my purchases on the counter, blocked a blast from them with another ice wall and shattered it. Without moving I sent the shards towards Purple Hair, pinning her to the far wall. 

I got blasted from my side and into a display, knocking it over and landing on my back among the early Halloween treats. The temperature dropped as I sent out ice across the floor, towards the two still standing. 

The cashier ducked as Spiky Hair and Skyscraper (not the best nickname, I know) fired blasts of black sand at me from both hands. A defensive wall went up and I struggled to hold back the now unrelenting streams of black sand with my mind. 

I held up one hand to steady the wall and got to my feet as Skyscraper sent one of her streams around my wall and into me. 

I skidded sideways into another display, making it rock but not fall over. I sent the ice out further, causing them to slip and lose their balance. As they flailed in that split second I sent spikes of ice their way, pinning them to the opposite wall as well. 

There was a smashing sound as Purple Hair freed herself and charged towards me, a knife made from black sand in her hand. 

She threw it in my direction and I ducked, letting it slam into the wall behind me and disappear. When your teacher is the self proclaimed King of Snowball fights, you get pretty good at dodging projectiles. 

I turned to face her and saw that she was still charging at me, her face almost livid. I held my hands out instinctively in a futile attempt to stop her, with her hands turning black from the sand. 

Our hands met and it turned into a more subdued version of sumo wrestling, with the two of us trying to push the other into a wall by hands alone, our powers sparking randomly from our hands. The two opposing powers were under so much pressure that they began to spread. Frost crept across my knuckles and black sand crawled across the knuckles of Purple Hair. 

One random blast of power and the row of chocolate bars was frozen. Another random spark and a row of drinks was knocked over by black sand. 

I had the advantage of four years training since I'd last fought, so I was stronger than before. In fact I was now as strong physically as Purple Hair, whereas before she appeared to be stronger than me. 

We pushed against each other, struggling to obtain the upper hand as our hands glowed blue and black. 

Purple Hair glared at me under her hanging hair and almost hissed. 

"Murderer." 

I felt a thud so hard in my stomach I thought I'd been stabbed. Except no one was in any position to stab me. 

"You killed them." Purple Hair hissed again, louder. I felt my resolve weaken in shock and Purple pushed harder, sending me into the wall. 

Before I could move forward Purple Hair came in close, her forearm up against my throat.  
>I could feel my trachea struggling as she put pressure on it, and I suddenly found it a lot harder to draw in air. Frost began to spread on the wall behind me, but it didn't seem to deter Purple Hair. <p>

A sick, almost demented grin appeared on Purple Hair's face, as though she couldn't wait to do this. 

"Say hello to those you killed." 

"Accident." I gasped, and Purple Hair scowled, pushing her forearm harder into my throat. 

"Some accident. Six people died!" 

"I'm... sorry." 

She almost seemed to consider my apology, before putting even more pressure on my throat. Black dots danced in front of my eyes as Purple Hair gritted her teeth. 

"Too late." 

My vision was starting to go black, all I could of doing was breathing out whatever air I had left and freezing it. 

A moderate chunk of ice landed on Purple Hair's forearm and stuck there, causing her to withdraw to try and get rid of it. 

I fell down from the wall, gasping as I got air back into my lungs. Frost spread from my position and went about a five feet, causing Purple Hair to stumble away in panic. 

The lowered temperature helped me recover, so very quickly I was back on my feet, and sending an ice blast at Purple Hair. 

The blast was more powerful than I intended and Purple Hair's head hit the wall hard, her eyes rolling back into her head as she collapsed. 

I winced and turned around to look at the other two Pitch Descendants, trying to work out to do with them as I breathed heavily. 

To find that Spiky Hair was missing. 

I looked around wildly as he dropped from the ceiling, landing feet first on my back and knocking me to the ground. 

The breath left my lungs in a big whoosh and I lay there, gasping. I couldn't let him get an attack off when I was like this, so I reached my hand up, scrabbling for his foot so I could freeze it. 

I felt his foot connect with my hand as he attempted to kick it away, but that brief contact allowed frost to spread along his foot. 

The pressure was gone from my back as he moved away, trying to scrape off the frost. I stood up and sent a blast of ice from my hand, slamming him into the fridge cabinets. He slid down them and didn't get up. 

Lastly was Skyscraper, who hadn't moved. Her thin face looked at me impassively, the usual absence of fear on her face. 

I couldn't leave her here as she was, she'd get free and tell other Descendants of Pitch, if they didn't already know where I was. 

"W-who the hell are you people?" 

Darn it, I'd forgotten about the cashier. 

Skyscraper and I looked at the cashier, who was peeking over the counter, then at each other, becoming temporarily united by a common desire. It was an unwritten rule among Descendants, almost instinct; you don't get non-Descendants involved. 

Skyscraper formed symbols from black sand, similar to how Sandman communicates. A waving hand and some Z's, like those that appear in pictures to signify that the character was asleep. 

I frowned at Skyscraper who shrugged as best she could when she was pinned to the wall. I saw her point, putting him to sleep would be the most reliable way of covering our  
>tracks. I just wish it wasn't Nightmare sand. <p>

I twitched my fingers and released the hand closest to the cashier. In a swift movement she blew Nightmare sand into the cashier's face and he collapsed face first on the counter. Snores quickly filled the shop. 

Skyscraper and I looked at each other, relieved that the situation was over, then we remembered that we were supposed to be fighting. 

She sent sand in the form of knives towards me and I took a step back to form a barrier, which caught the knives. 

I kept the wall up as I walked towards her, still trying to work out what to do. Ideally I'd like to conveniently knock her out, but unless I rammed something into her head, that wasn't going to happen. 

Her free hand surrounded itself in black sand and she threw it at my ice wall, successfully shattering it. I let the shards fall in surprise and her fist drew back again, probably to punch me in the face. 

I ducked underneath the punch and popped up again like a jack-in-a-box, my own fist heading for Skyscraper's head, covered in a layer of frost from earlier. 

My knuckles landed with a not too effective punch, but it somehow seemed to work. Frost appeared on her forehead and her eyes rolled into her head. The frost then disappeared from her forehead and I could feel the temperature of her head had gone down. 

I'd given her brain freeze. Quite literally. I'd never done that before. 

I quickly realised that the security cameras would no longer be obscured so I threw up the hood of my hoodie, not wanting the police on my tail as well. 

I was fully aware that the cameras were probably recording me as I moved the displays back as best as I could, given the fact I was in a rush. I didn't want to hang around here any longer then I had to and if I removed the ice then it would make things more obvious that something weird had happened. Best for them to think it was some kind of fridge malfunction. 

I leaned over to the counter to collect my purchases, stuffing them in my pockets while double checking that the cashier was alright. 

With all of that sorted I decided to leave the Descendants of Pitch where they were and left, taking to the sky on rails of ice. My hands were shaking from left over adrenaline, but it quickly faded as I got back into the rhythm of skating.


	4. Chapter 4

**First off, thank you to multi-fangirl123 for favouriting!**

**Not So Eloquent- Thanks for still reading! This is probably the most action heavy of the three arcs, and oddly the shortest, 30 chapters to the first arc's 40 *shrug*.**

**The brain freeze thing seems to one heck of coincidence, although it is one advantage of being a Descendant of Jack Frost, you don't get brain freeze! But what do I know? I'm a Descendant of Sandman.**

**As for running into more Descendants of Pitch, you'll see in this chapter.**

I got most of the way across New York State before settling down for the day. I stopped shaking a couple of hours beforehand, putting what Purple Hair had said from my mind, but what happened still unsettled me. I'd been there for five minutes! Were they following me?  
>I leaned back in my sleeping bag and sighed. It didn't matter right now, they wouldn't be following me for a bit, so I could relax for now. <p>

I looked up at the sky, watching as the warm lights of day overtook the beauty that was the night. There was something liberating about moving around like this. I didn't have to conform to anything, I could do what I wanted. In theory I could just tell HOG to stuff it and push off on my own. I could see why Jack liked living like this. 

But even Jack comes back to his roots, and I knew from Penelope that living out here is not as freeing as it could be. There were dangers here, I couldn't allow myself to forget that. 

Plus my mission was too important. It wasn't just my Branch or all of HOG, something was up with the Guardians as well. 

The majority of the next night was uneventful, and I came down in an area that was far enough from civilisation for no one to notice me. At the same time it wasn't so far that I couldn't get supplies if I needed them, there was a town about an hour's walk away, so about five minutes by ice. 

As I was setting up camp, which consisted on unrolling my sleeping bag, I felt a prickle between my shoulder blades. 

I looked up and scanned the trees, trying to work out what I thought I'd sensed. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a flash of yellow. I whipped my head around to face it and saw a glimpse of yellow eyes before they disappeared into the shadows. 

I stared at where they had been for a second and began packing up my sleeping bag, I had no intention of hanging around somewhere where I could get eaten by wolves or something. 

As I shoved the sleeping bag back into my rucksack there seemed to one large leaf rustle from all around me, as though there had been a synchronised food forage by small mammals. 

Or a synchronised foot step of a group of people surrounding another. 

I threw on my bag as a group of Descendants of Pitch stepped out of the shadows to surround me. There were too many to count at a glance and even more worryingly there were a handful of Nightmares joining them. 

I felt my stomach drop; I hadn't seen the demonic looking horses since the battle four years ago, and they still looked terrifying. 

I stood and stared for a second, then went up on a pillar of ice. There were way too many to fight, last time I'd tried to find anything close to this number hadn't ended well. 

From below and behind me black strands of black sand shot up and began to wrap around my arms, starting to pull me off the pillar. 

"Get off!" I yelled, a little pointlessly as I pulled back and wrapped my feet in ice to try and keep myself on the ice pillar. As I did so I sent ice down the strands to shatter them. 

In response they sent strands to wrap around my legs. I could hear them yelling to each other, but what they were saying was lost. 

The ice around my feet cracked as their sand began to succeed in pulling me off. I grunted and tried to strengthen it, sending more ice down the sand. Some shattered, but for each one that shattered, another two got wrapped around me. 

It was starting to really hurt, the strands digging into my arms, legs and torso as I was almost pulled horizontally backwards. I had to grit my teeth to stop myself from screaming. Finally the ice gave in and I was pulled off the ice pillar with a yell of shock. 

I fell down the few metres I'd managed to go up with a heavy thud and began to get pulled towards the group of Descendants behind me. 

Ice spread up the strands more quickly than ever and they shattered. Before they could send more sand strands my way I drew up a protective barrier of ice. 

I got to my feet within the dome and scanned the crowd, trying to work out what they were going to try now. Their shouting was muffled within the ice, however it quickly quietened and streams of black sand were sent my way. Inside the protective dome I gathered myself, breathed in, and let out a slow breath, causing the grass around the dome to frost over and begin spreading towards the Descendants of Pitch. 

I tuned out the attacks and focused on the slow approach of the frost; I couldn't stop flinching every time black sand impacted the dome, but otherwise didn't react. Once close to the surrounding Descendants the frost increased in mass to become ice, which in turn became spikes to cut through the streams of black sand. 

It seemed to work for a second and the streams were halted, but within two seconds of the streams stopping the Nightmares charged. 

They bucked and charged at my protective dome, cracks appearing in its surface. I held out my arms to try and hold them back, but they were attacking it so hard, it was impossible to keep it up, I had to let the dome shatter. I caught hold of the shards and sent them at the Nightmares. Some of them went down with a horse like scream, others brushed it off with a snort. 

More streams of black sand went towards me and the Nightmares charged again. There was no way I could take them all at once, but I had to try something. 

I pulled up a barrier to block the rear attacks and formed my blades to slice through the frontal attacks. The Nightmares I just tried to dodge. 

I was taken back to the fight in Burgess five years ago. The situation was similar, Descendants of Pitch trying to snag me with streams and ropes made of sand and me using arm blades to cut through them. I'd lost that time, and at this rate, the same thing could happen. 

I gritted my teeth against the thought as I spun and slashed. It was not going to happen.  
>Too much was riding on this! <p>

The ice spikes merged back into the ice and frost and began to spread further. This was at the back of my mind as my breath panted loudly in my ears and I tried to not get caught in black sand. I was getting tired, and with tiredness came sloppiness, so I had to get this right the first time. 

The ice suddenly jumped up to wrap around the Descendants, pinning them in place. They probably weren't keen on this happening again, but this time I stopped before the ice reached their heads. The Nightmares also got their hooves wrapped in ice, immobilising them as well. 

I stood there panting as I examined my handiwork. I couldn't hang around here, but maybe a few seconds to catch my breath wouldn't hurt. 

I almost froze in place as four more Descendants of Pitch stepped out of the shadows in different places around me, each carrying a dark pack with some kind of nozzle in their hands. 

Okay, a rest would hurt. 

Before I could do anything there was a strange bursting noise and fire burst from the Descendant behind me and I felt a burst of heat fly past me. 

On instinct I scrambled away from it, when another burst of heat came from the side I was running to. Those two bursts of heat became full on flames. 

Since when did the Descendants of Pitch carry flame throwers of all things!? 

I'd never willingly stood this close to a flame before, and I could already feel my body screaming at me. I was burning and melting at the same time, and it hurt so much! 

I curled up in an attempt to protect myself, but I couldn't stop the scream of pain wrenching itself from my mouth as I tried to get away from both flamethrowers. The two on the other side of me sent out theirs, blocking my escape on the ground, and it felt like I was standing on the Sun. 

The ice and frost began to melt around the flames, and any ice or frost that tried to form on my body to cool me was immediately melted. My blades also suffered, becoming malformed from the close proximity to the fire and dripping onto the grass. 

I began to stagger from the heat, my head feeling oddly light and my legs becoming wobbly. The air was thick in my throat, making it difficult to breathe and I felt like I was going to faint, there were even dark spots dancing in front of my eyes as the world began to blur. My stomach was revolting against me, wanting to expel my last meal. 

I needed to get out of here. Now. 

It took longer than I would have like, with the lack of moisture in the air and my current position making it difficult to form anything. Finally I rose up on a pillar of ice, away from the horrific heat of the flame throwers and into the cold autumn air. 

I sucked in lungfuls of air as I stood in the morning sky, the rising sun causing the sky to turn pink and orange. Parts of my clothes were soaked from the melted ice and frost, if I wasn't a Descendant of Jack Frost I'd worry that I'd catch my death up here. Below me I could feel my pillar wobbling as the flame throwers began to melt it. 

I hadn't recovered, not even close, I still felt like I was going to be sick, but I still jumped onto an ice bridge and began to skate in a wobbly way, getting rid the blades as I did so. I wanted to get as far away from those flamethrowers as humanly possible. The other side of the planet preferably. 

As I skated frost began to cover the exposed parts of my body, which were my face and hands. It also extended underneath my clothes, getting my body back to a normal temperature by becoming a second skin. 

As I concentrated more on skated my nausea faded and my legs began to feel stronger. My breathing managed to get stronger, but it still felt a little difficult. 

I dropped onto the roofs of the town, seeing clusters of kids making their way to school. I stayed on top of the roofs to recover, surely the Descendants of Pitch wouldn't attack somewhere so populated? 

A whinny caught my attention. I turned to look back to the woods and saw something that made my stomach drop. 

The Descendants of Pitch wouldn't attack, but the Nightmares certainly would! 

Now I was the one at the disadvantage; I couldn't use my powers so close to people, so I did the only thing I could do. 

I ran.

**You can all yell at me now.**

**And believe it or not, that's not the worst thing Jackie's going to face this arc.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Not So Eloquent-Thank you for following and favouriting! In terms of the worst the Descendants of Pitch have in store for Jackie, this is probably the worst it's going to get, however, that doesn't mean that something worse isn't going to happen to Jackie. I'll leave that part hanging.**

**Sandbenders? I've never thought of it like that. I have taken a lot of inspiration from Avatar with the earth moving Descendants of Bunnymund and the air moving Descendants of Jack Frost, and there are some movements from earth bending and water bending that I implement into Jackie's ice moving, but I never went further than that. It's an interesting thought.**

**I do go deeper into that kind of thing in the HOG Files if you want to check that out.**

I managed to get into a rhythm with running. Scramble up the side of one roof, slide down the other side, jump to the next house, rinse and repeat. However, the Nightmares weren't bothered by minor things such as the laws of physics, so it didn't take long for them to catch up. 

I reached the flat roof of someone's garage and paused on the edge, wondering where to go next. Before I'd figured something out something hard, but at the same time flexible hit me in the back and sent me flying off. The kick was halted slightly by my bag, but it still hurt. 

I yelled in shock as I fell off the roof. I landed hard on the pavement and skidded slightly, my left hand getting trapped beneath my body as I tried to break my fall. 

I gasped in as pain flared up in my left wrist and my left leg, my remaining breath used up in that expression of pain. I forced myself to my feet and looked back at the Nightmare, which was standing triumphantly on top of the garage roof as its brethren took positions on the surrounding roofs. 

"What are those?" 

I jumped and looked to my left to see some of the school kids looking right at the Nightmares. Before they could get a good look at me I pulled my hood up, them remembering what I looked like was not in the plan. I may still have been covered in frost, but I wasn't about to take chances. 

"Nightmares." I said, still panting and causing all of the six strong group to look at me. "And I'd stay as far away from as possible if I were you." 

The Nightmare on the garage roof reared up and let out a whinny. Its neighbours did the same, their cry echoing through the cul-de-sac. 

I started to run, when pain on my leg caused me to stop. Wincing in pain I took a look at the damage. 

My jeans had been ripped down the left leg and the skin had been scraped off, leaving small amounts of blood and gravel. Not serious, but it stung like hell! 

My wrist also demanded attention, but at this point, my life was a little more important. 

Spying a few day old snow around me, I came up with a plan to move without moving my leg.  
>The sole of my trainers became coated in ice and the snow obliging hardened, forming a surface for me to slide on. With a small prompting from my mind I was off. <p>

I had to hold my hood in place as I flung myself along the streets, acting like I was on a snowboard as I zigg zagged between pedestrians as the Nightmare's chased me through town. I went down side alleys, main roads and even through a park, but no matter what I did, I just couldn't lose them! 

They were always just behind me whenever I dared to look back. Pedestrians didn't seem to notice them, they were too busy staring at the crazy person flying along the ice to care about equine shaped sandy monstrosities! 

Not that they would see them anyway; only believers could see them, and this town seemed to be lacking in those. 

I could just leave the town to use my powers on the Nightmares, but the minute I did that, the Descendants of Pitch would be on me like vultures. 

"Do you need a hand?" 

I looked just behind me to see a boy just keeping pace with me on a skateboard. He had dark blonde hair poking out underneath his helmet, which framed his serious blue eyes. 

"Haven't you got school?" I asked. I never knew Canadians could be so hospitable, but the same instinct came back to me, don't get non-Descendants involved. 

"Yeah, but you could use the help." 

"No offence kid, but what do you think you can do?" 

"Well, my little sister poked one of the things chasing you and it turned into a gold fairy." 

"What?!" I wasn't sure what was the strangest thing I was hearing, that he let his sister touch a Nightmare, or what it turned into. 

"I know, but it stopped chasing you when she did that. I was thinking of getting the gang together and taking them out." 

"Great, but why are you doing this?" 

"We don't want them here either, but since you're running from them, we'd thought we'd tell you what was going on." 

"You mean you're already doing this!?" 

"Yeah, just one more to go." 

I almost crashed into a lamppost from this revelation. This kid didn't know me, he didn't know what I was doing, and yet he was willing to help me out. He did have his own motive sure, but it still left me stunned. 

"There it is!" He yelled, and he somehow picked up the speed to get ahead of me, where a Nightmare had been waiting to ambush me. 

I yelled and swerved, trying to get away from the damn thing, while the boy went straight to it and ran his fingers along its sandy ribcage. 

Gold colouration spread from there and encompassed the whole Nightmare, turning it into a sandy dolphin. 

I had to stop just to take this in. A dolphin made of Dream Sand, in broad daylight, and a boy who couldn't be much older than eight or nine, laughing as it swam around him. 

The surrounding adults looked at us like we were utterly insane, but I couldn't help but smile. It was a piece of my world being brought into the light for once, and while it wouldn't last, it still felt, warm I guess. 

The pain in my wrist and leg quickly brought me back to reality. I snapped a quick salute to the boy, before disappearing out of town. 

I yawned as I made it into the main roads, I was shattered, and with all these cars driving past, sleeping nearby would make it difficult for the Descendants of Pitch to find me. 

I sat down by a hedge and evaluated the injuries I'd picked up. The frost on my body had done its job, so it disappeared as I had a look. 

My back was sore from the kick, but there appeared to be no lasting damage on that front.  
>My wrist still hurt like hell and looked a little swollen, putting my fingers close to it I could feel heat radiating off it. All I could really do was wrap a solid piece of ice around it and hope for the best, Tina and Nigel were always the ones who knew how to handle injuries like this. <p>

My chest began to ache as my thoughts turned to my Branch, but I tried to tune it out as I examined my leg. The jeans were completely ruined, with rips going up the entire length of the leg. My leg underneath wasn't a pretty sight, my skin was red and marred with grit from the fall. 

I pulled my water bottle out of my back and awkwardly squirted it onto the scrapes, wincing as I did so. I had to make sure that the water didn't freeze on contact, which was instinct for me to do with water, and after a while most of the grit had been cleaned out. With that done I sent out a film of frost to protect the skin. I didn't know if the injury would or even could get infected, but I didn't want to take the risk. 

I had also lost a lot of my water supply, and I didn't have any money left. 

I was just going to have to cope until I got to the Pole I decided as I unrolled my sleeping bag. I couldn't wait to sleep, especially after an episode like that. 

It took me another two full nights to get to the edge of Canada and just across the water from the Arctic. My wrist was still off and I hadn't worked out what I'd done to it, so I just kept the ice and frost in place on both injuries. 

However, now I had another new issue, nightmares. 

Not the sand variety, just your garden variety imagination born nightmare. And for those two days all I could see was fire. I would wake up from them only holding back screams, sweat freezing all over me and breathing heavily from the panic. 

The attack had hit me hard, and now I was losing sleep; I needed to get to the Pole as soon as I could, before I went insane. 

Despite this I entertained the possibility that I'd lost the Descendants of Pitch, and the further north I went, the more likely that possibility was. 

There was heavy snow in the area I had stopped to sleep, with it still coming down. So I didn't have to hide in the woods this time, I just lay in the snow and let it cover me. 

This might have been a good place to find Jack and we could go to North together, although this was the only snow I'd seen, and it had been predicted. Not to mention the Northern Lights... 

Most of Jack's snow went unpredicted, since Jack himself is difficult to predict. So it was reasonable to believe that Jack wasn't causing this snow. Neither New York or Pennsylvania had snow, and that made me worried. Jack had usually made an appearance by now, but as I said earlier, he's hard to predict, and he's been called by the Guardians, fun snow might be off the menu for a few days. 

I hope it was just for a few days.


	6. Chapter 6

**Not So Eloquent- Glad to see that you're that excited to see a new chapter. ;) And also glad to see that you like it this much.**

I woke early to the sound of voices. They were muffled by the snow that had now completely covered me, so I cleared some away to hear what they were saying. 

"...Where you saw them?" 

"Yes, I couldn't really say the gender and age, but there was someone here who just lay down in the snow. And it was coming down thick!" 

I quickly realised that they were talking about me, who else would lie down in snow in the middle of a snow storm? It wouldn't do to get caught now, not when I was this close. 

I moved through the deep layer of snow, using my powers to make it looked like nothing was being disturbed on the surface. 

It was painstakingly slow to crawl, and all I was doing was wasting time for the sake of not being discovered. Once the voices had faded away I poked my head out the snow and looked around, probably giving myself the appearance of a snow meerkat. I looked over at where the voices had come from and saw a member of the public and a police man digging through the snow. 

I clambered out and brushed off any bits of snow still on me. With my back to the concerned people I walked away along the rocky top half of the shoreline, fiddling in my rucksack for something to eat. 

I ate as I walked and decided that I might as well continue onwards now that I was awake. I checked the compass that was clipped to my bag, made sure I was facing north, and took off across the sea. 

I crossed further bits of land as I skated, some were islands, others were connected to Canada. 

Night quickly fell and I kept going, not wanting to stop over the sea. I wasn't sure if I could survive those temperatures if my ice gave out if I slept, heck if I did fall in I'd have little chance of saving myself. 

After all, why learn to swim when you can freeze water when you touch it? 

Okay, I probably wouldn't drown if I fell in, but I wouldn't be able to help anyone if I got frozen solid. 

The sun had risen partway into the sky when I finally reached land and I landed gratefully on the ice. I yawned and moved away from the edge, not wanting the ice to break away with me still on it. 

I checked the ice mentally and settled on a secure part to eat and sleep. 

I woke up with the sun still partially in the sky, with my section of ice still firmly attached to the rest to my relief. 

I took off again after breakfast, hoping I could reach North's Workshop by at least midday tomorrow, given how long ago the Northern Lights were; I couldn't afford to lose much more time. Since there was nothing hindering me here, so I let my speed go mad and the wind flew in my face as I went faster than a car towards the North Pole. It was the first time where I could almost truly say that I was cold, possibly freezing given how people tend to throw the word around. I didn't bother complaining, I just relished the new experience. 

Despite the situation, I couldn't help but grin as I sped through the landscape. The wind pulled at my hair and crept around my glasses, causing my eyes to stream, and my torn jeans flapped in the air, but I didn't care. 

"Wooooooo hoooooo!" I cried as I sped along, laughing as I did so. After all that had happened the last few days, I was just glad to have something good happen. Even if that good was just seeing how fast I could go. 

After a while the novelty wore off, and I found my thoughts turning, not to my Branch, but to my fellow Descendants of Jack Frost. 

I had seen them since the war. We'd met up for what were called 'Workshops' during the past four years, where all ten of us had met up somewhere cold to practice our powers.  
>We'd compared techniques and learnt new ones with Alfred leading us. <p>

I remembered passing on a few moves that Jack had taught me, mainly making snow. Snow was harder to form than ice or frost, and it could have various consistencies. Getting just perfect for snowball fights was incredibly difficult. I could do it, but getting a consistent consistency was difficult. 

I had to smile as I powered along, remembering the time when James and Jacob had frozen Alfred's feet to the floor. 

I didn't stop until I reached the cliff beneath the Workshop and I tilted my bridge up to continue on to the front door. Day hadn't properly broken; in fact it almost seemed permanently close to twilight or dawn with an almost black sky, so it was difficult to tell exactly how long I'd been travelling. Given my tiredness, I guessed that it was at least a day, if not a day and a half. However, it was the Arctic winter where there was six months of darkness, it looked like it was just beginning here. 

I staggered slightly as I landed by the front door. I was tired, hungry and the wind chill was starting to get to me, as I was just starting to lose feeling in my fingers. It was a novel experience. My leg had scabbed over, so walking wasn't an issue, but I still had to be careful not irritate them. 

I rapped weakly at the door, opening my mouth to announce my arrival. Except it never happened, because the door opened on its own. 

My breath caught in my throat as I peered in, tiredness forgotten. 

"Hello?" I called, not getting a response. 

I walked in, and found the Workshop empty. 

No elves were running about with their little bell hats, there were no yeti's making toys and there were no said toys whizzing through the air. 

The whole place was empty, and the normally cheery place felt dark and foreboding. 

I kept walking in and began noticing signs of a struggle. Several toys were knocked on the floor, some whole, some in bits. The ice sculptures they were built from had been shattered and shards of ice were scatted around. 

Tables were upturned and paper was scattered all over the floor. Covering the white paper like a shadow were patches of black sand. 

"No." I breathed, not wanting to believe it. I knew something must have happened, but not something like this. 

My eyes picked out more details as I walked along, grey fur here, golden sand there, a groove in the woodwork that could have been a sword swipe. Two things instantly caught my attention. First on the floor and on the walls were various blasts of ice. Second were the large canine paw prints, paw prints made from dried blood. 

"No, oh please no." I choked. Whatever got HOG had found its way to the North Pole and had caught most of the Guardians. Whilst I had no doubt that the Guardians could handle themselves perfectly well, if they were taken by surprise... 

I couldn't see any evidence that Toothiana was here, which held some source of relief. One Guardian might be okay. 

As I continued to walk forward I felt my foot connect with something that clattered. I looked down and felt my throat burn with unshed tears. 

It was Jack's staff. 

I picked it up with my good hand and held it tight in my fist, causing my knuckles to turn white. Jack never, ever, went anywhere without it, he must be in serious trouble to leave it behind. The staff was neutral to my touch and I could feel it almost humming for a second, as if deciding something, but the moment I heard it, the humming stopped. 

I tucked it under my arm and walked towards the centre room where the Globe was, hoping to find something there. I remember asking Jack about the Globe, who said that each light on the globe showed a child who believes in the Guardians. 

I looked up at the Globe and gasped, most of the lights were out, and still going. 

"No." I said, backing off. "What happened here?" I asked the air. 

A bright light from above caught my attention and I looked up to see that the moon was shining through a gap in the ceiling. Its light shone on an area on the floor and a shadow appeared, a shadow of me. 

"What...?" I looked up at the moon. "Was that you?" 

The shadow disappeared but the light remained strong, in a sense answering my question. 

"Do you know what happened?" 

A silhouette of Pitch appeared, followed by a canine face I didn't recognise. 

"So, Pitch, along with, the Big Bad Wolf?" 

The image was quickly replaced by a silhouette of Pitch and a child. 

"And the Descendants of Pitch? The ones I froze four years ago? Were they the ones who got HOG too?" 

There was no shadow, but I got the impression I was correct. 

I felt sick, Pitch and his Descendants were bad enough, but this Wolf, I didn't know what to make of it. I just knew that I was now even more scared. 

I looked at the Globe and took a deep breath. 

"Do you know where they are?" 

A shadow of a tooth formed. 

"Toothiana's place? They got Toothiana too?" 

The shadow disappeared again and I had the feeling again, that I was right and I felt my heart sink. All of the Guardians were captured as well, that would explain the dying lights. 

"Well, where is Toothiana's place?" 

A shadow of India appeared. 

I looked from the shadow to the Globe in panic. "I'll never make it in time! What can I do, what can I do?" 

I paced back and forth, trying to think. An image of when I was last here came up in my mind. In North's sleigh, he pulled something out of the dashboard, which formed a portal. 

"That orb... Where could it be?" 

In desperation I started looking in all the cupboards in the Workshop, since the Moon no longer had answers for me. 

In desperation I looked in North's main office, which looked in distressingly poor shape.  
>I tried to ignore the upturned tables, the scattered books and shattered ice sculpture as<br>I looked through his drawers. Just as I was giving up I found a whole drawer of globes. I tucked Jacks staff under my armpit and took several, then paused, looking over my shoulder at my bag. 

If they were being held at Toothiana's place, then there was no doubt that they'd be guarded. I'd need to play the offensive, which meant putting on the armour. 

I walked back the Globe, set down the globes and opened my bag, pulling out my armour piece by piece. 

I pulled on the protective shorts, quickly followed by the arm and leg guards. I'd grown quite a bit since last time, so I had to loosen the leather straps to make it fit.  
>Next was the chest plate and boots, which also needed to be adjusted, which was difficult with only one good hand. Before putting on my helmet I checked my ice blades and watched them slide in and out of the slits with no issue. <p>

Finally were the gloves. The left one made my wrist squeal in pain as it brushed against it, but I ignored it as I did up the straps with my teeth. 

I took re-shouldered my bag, tucking the remaining globes into it. I held the last one in my hand and while holding Jack's staff under my arm, I said. "Toothiana Toothiana  
>Toothiana" <p>

Looking into the globe I saw pink, blue and gold pillars rising up into the air. There were platforms and ornate decorations of the same colour. 

Remembering how North did it, I threw the globe at the floor, where a portal appeared to Toothiana's place. 

I took a deep breath and took one more look at the moon, moving Jack's staff to my right hand, then walked into the portal. Accompanied by the familiar turning sensation in my stomach.

**AN, I'm afraid that after this update there will not be another chapter for over a week, I'm not going to have internet access during that time. Sorry for the inconvience.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! Sorry for being dead for a week, I was in Poland! Specifically the Carpathian mountains, tracking large carnivores, wolves, lynx, bears, that kind of thing. It was exhausting, because we were trekking up to 14km a day in snow and mud and it turned out my work boots were not appropriate for scaling snowy mountains, so I was slipping and sliding down the mountains on my bum for the first couple of days. After that most of the snow had melted, so it was a little easier.**

**And I was in the 'easy' unfit group. The other group were scaling near vertical surfaces, I'm not too bothered by it, except they actually saw a bear track!**

**And before someone corrects me, saying that bears hibernate during the winter, it's not true hibernation. Bears wake up periodically in the winter, wander a bit for some food and got back to bed. So it's perfectly reasonable for a bear to roaming around in December.**

**Anyway, reviews.**

**Not So Eloquent: Why are you reading this in the middle of history? Speaking as someone who admittedly isn't in compulsory education anymore and loves history, you should be paying attention! Although I do find the idea of quietly fangirling in the middle of a lesson quite funny XD**

**Pitch has it all planned out this time. He's learnt that he needs to deal with HOG **_**and**_** the Guardians in order to truly beat the Guardians. So by taking all of HOG and the Guardians and trying to deal with them at the same time makes things more efficient. Such a shame he missed one who's going to single handedly screw it all up.**

**Well, the chapters going up on DA are from the next arc, so you can either have a mass reading session on there to catch up with this arc, or wait until Howling Shadows is finished here and read all of the next arc. I imagine they'd finish at roughly the same time. Or you can completely ignore the chapters and have a look at the extra stuff. Most of it will go up on both sites, but the art can only stay on DA.**

**I'm really glad you think that. I did work hard on this, but as they say, you are your harshest critic.**

**Okay, long intro is long, let's get on with the story!**

The first thing I noticed was the lack of floor.

I started to fall, screaming, but then I lurched to a stop as there was a sudden blast of wind from beneath me which pushed me up. 

I hung there with my arms outstretched. I opened my eyes and saw that I was still holding Jack's staff. I imagined that was why I was hanging in the air. 

"Well, aren't you full of surprises." I said, turning my head to look at the staff. 

I looked around for the, well, Palace was the only way to describe it. I quickly found it through a gap in the towering rock face and tried angling myself towards it. 

The staff seemed to understand what I was after and started slowly floating towards it, which was followed by a blast of wind which sent me flying forward in a sudden burst, then suddenly stopping. I was now hovering above a pink platform, and then I wasn't hovering. 

I fell out of the sky with a yell and landed flat on my stomach on the platform, the air shoved out of my lungs. I lay there for a few minutes, gasping like a landed fish, then I managed to lever myself into a sitting position, sucking in air through my teeth as my wrist complained. 

I slowly stood up and eyed the staff warily; it seemed as though flying was something I'd have to learn, and I didn't have time right now. 

So instead of relying on unsteady flying I formed an ice bridge and skated off the platform and to the main Palace. It was huge, but the main area seemed to be huge platform, surrounded by seven enormous pillars. There were other platforms scattered around the place, surrounded by walls with a gold, ornate lattice pattern. 

As I got closer I could see the signs of struggle here. Black sand and shimmering feathers were scattered everywhere, along with what looked like claw mark scrapes and few more ominous paw prints. 

The Palace looked in poor shape; the pink colour was faded and the gold decoration was tarnished and cracked. In its prime it must be beautiful, but now it seemed more like a shadow of what it was meant to be. 

There were various green shapes on the platforms, but as I got closer I realised they were Toothiana's Mini Fairies. All grounded and weak. There was movement from them, so I guessed they were still alive, but they weren't in great shape. 

I suddenly started as I heard voices and I looked around to find the source. After a few seconds I realised that they were coming below me, so I landed carefully on a platform and looked down. 

On the ground below were the five Guardians and five Heads of HOG, all ten bound up with black sand against the wall complete with gags, no doubt due to Jason's call to me. The Heads were on the left wall and the Guardians on the right, with a body of water between them. 

My gaze however, focused on one figure that strode confidently between them. 

I felt a shot of fear bolt through my stomach and turned to hide behind a pillar to get my breathing under control. Pitch, Pitch Black was actually here, and I would have to get past him to free the others. I'd had enough trouble with his Descendants, how was I going to be able to handle the Bogeyman himself, alone? 

I swallowed my fear and looked back down at Pitch and his captives, trying to work out the best strategy for handling this. That's when I noticed something odd. 

All of them were looking at Pitch who was walking in front of them with barely disguised fear, which is what confused me. Why would they, the Guardians, be so afraid of Pitch? The Heads I could understand, but not the Guardians. 

Even stranger, Pitch was talking to the air. 

"Well, I see that everything's in order here. I'll leave you to it you, Lupine and I'll get back to see how my Descendants are handling those pigs." 

I frowned, Pitch's voice didn't sound like I remembered it. Now it sounded more, suave, I guess. 

With that Pitch disappeared into a shadow. I let out a sigh of relief and once I'd recovered myself I jumped down from the platform, catching myself on an ice pillar. It lowered me to the ground and I walked towards the Heads and Guardians. 

"Hey, long time no see!" I called, trying to dispel my own fear with a show of confidence. 

I saw Toothiana's eyes widen in shock, but she seemed to be looking behind me, rather than at me. Looking at the others I also saw the same worry in their eyes. 

"What?" I asked, looking behind me. 

"There's nothing-Oh!" I realised. The paw print and the moon's message clicked together. 

"I get it. The Big Bag Wolf is behind me, isn't it?" 

One look at their faces told me that, yes, the Big Bad Wolf was behind me. I turned around to see, nothing. 

Chances were that if I freed the Guardians then it would attack, whilst it couldn't affect me, it could affect them. They were weakened by the lack of belief, and might not be able to hold their own. 

So in order to defend them, I'd need to believe in the Big Bad Wolf. 

I folded my arms, knocking myself in the helmet with Jack's staff as I did so. I let out a sigh and adjusted my position slightly, then closed my eyes and tried to think. I managed to believe in the Guardians by remembering what the meant to me and what they represented. 

So what did the Big Bad Wolf represent? 

My first thought was Little Red Riding Hood, then Three Little Pigs. I couldn't help but smirk at that last one. 

"Oh, the irony of what springs to mind when I think Big Bad Wolf." I said, chuckling to myself, the lack of sleep was starting to get to me. 

"Okaaay." I said, opening my eyes and beginning to pace. I wasn't going to be able to get the others out until I could see the wolf, or Lupine as I realised Pitch had called him. Going back to my previous line of thought, the only thing I could really think up was being afraid of the forest. 

I sighed and lifted my visor so I could rub my eyes beneath my glasses as I tried and failed to hold back a yawn. I was really tired. 

"This isn't working." I said, shaking my head in defeat. I started to send ice up the walls to free the Heads and Guardians, when I heard a crash behind me. 

I spun and got into a defensive stance, both arms close and facing forward with blades out, with Jack's staff held awkwardly in my back hand. A portion of my ice bridge had been shattered, and there were no signs of how it happened. 

"...What the...?" 

I took a cautious step forward, my eyes scanning the area. As I turned to properly scan the area it occurred to me exactly what that was. 

The Big Bad Wolf proving his existence. 

Once that thought had entered my brain I felt hot breath on the back of my helmet. 

I froze and turned around, to be greeted by a huge black wolf with glowing red eyes. Its shoulder easily stood at my head height, so its head was lowered to glare at me. 

"...I stand corrected." I said, backing up slowly. 

"Who are you?" Snarled Lupine, "Speak human! Before I tear you to shreds!" 

I reached the body of water as I backed away, which began to freeze the instant I touched it. 

"Well, um." I stumbled around for a witty answer, while holding back another yawn. The longer I stood on the water the further the ice went, if I stood here too long then the whole body of water would freeze solid. 

Lupine had already gotten tired of waiting for me to answer and lunged at me. 

I rose up on an ice pillar into the sky, out of his way as he lunged past it. 

He snarled up at me as I dropped my bag and put down the staff carefully on top the pillar, hopefully out of the way. 

With that I stepped towards the edge, pushed up my visor and said. 

"I'm Jacqueline Davies, The Human Order of Guardian's most powerful Descendant of Jack Frost!" I did my best to sound confidant, and not like I needed a good night's sleep. 

The wolf snarled to himself as he walked around to the front of the pillar. 

"Curse that fool Pitch! He told me he had caught every member of the damn Order!" 

"Strange, there aren't many Descendants of Jack Frost; I didn't think he'd miscount. The more you know I suppose." 

"Of course it would be one of you lot." I could have sworn I heard him say, but before I could say anything he looked back up at me, snarling. 

"Enough talk! Your rescue attempt has failed human! Come and face me and I'll give the mercy of swift death!" 

"Did you miss the part about being the most powerful? And how do you know that you weren't part of my plan?" 

"How could you possibly know about me and my involvement, I haven't been seen in centuries!" 

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out." 

Lupine snarled "Enough of your words, fight me!" 

"As you wish, don't say I didn't warn you." 

From where I stood I allowed pillars of ice to rise beneath Lupine without moving myself.  
>He yelped as he was taken off his feet. <p>

Spikes of ice appeared in the air and rained down on him, causing him to yelp again and dance away. He glared up at me and yelled. 

"Coward! Come down here and fight me yourself." 

"I am fighting you myself; it's a technique I developed." 

"Come down here and face me! I'll beat into you the meaning of the word battle!" 

"Oooh, fighting words from the large dog." 

Lupine only snarled in rage, the volume so loud that the stone pillars around me began to shake. 

I jumped free of the ice pillar as it also shook, allowing an ice bridge and skates to form. I skated down a bit to face the giant wolf below me. 

"You want a proper fight then?" I asked, moving into a defensive position, pulling my visor back down and checking my ice blades. 

"Let's do it."

**Only Jackie would be this cocky when sleep deprived and facing down an immortal who could rip her to shreds.**

**Something I want to note about Lupine, I'm not fond of his design, but there's a couple of reasons for that. **

**One, less is more. I don't think a character design has to be complex to be threatening, sometimes being fairly normal is unsettling enough, the uncanny valley if you will.**

**Two. As you can probably tell from the into to the this chapter, I love wolves, they're my favourite animals and it drives me nuts when people write about them in a bad light. Especially in something like 'The Grey'. Oh goodness, that film drives me up the wall with how it portrays wolves, it's completely inaccurate! And as much as I love Doctor Who, the episode where the whole planet becomes a forest and the zoo animals escaped also bothered me. The zoo animals wouldn't do that!**

**Okay, breathe, I'm going on a tangent. Sorry, incorrect animal behaviour in fiction is one of my pet peeves, especially involving canids.**

**Anyway, the reason why my first OC immortal is the Big Bad Wolf is simple, I couldn't think of any other children's bad guy.**

**Anyhoo, I've ranted long enough. Shapeshifter out.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Review!**

**Not the Groundhog/Not So Eloquent**

**Avoiding coursework? I'd disapprove if I hadn't been doing the exact same thing all weekend.**

**Cocky Jackie is funny Jackie. It's not really within her character to get drunk, but she'll probably be quite the lightweight, so if you can slip her some it wouldn't take much...**

**Jackie: Don't you even think about it...**

**Me: What? I wasn't planning anything! I swear!**

**Jackie: Sure you weren't.**

**Okay, time to get on with the chapter before Jackie loses her patience.**

I flew down the ice and made a sudden, slight right turn avoiding Lupine's lunge and slicing at his side with my blades. I used the elbow blade to slash him, to avoid using my wrist as much as I could. 

Lupine yelped and turned to swipe at me, and missed, because I was already back in the air behind him. 

"What's up Fangs? Don't you like fast food?" 

To my surprise I heard Lupine chuckle. 

"So, if you won't come to me human. I'll just come to you!" 

He jumped up onto the rock face and began climbing up towards me, chunks of rock falling from where he had dug his claws in. 

I angled myself towards him and flew down, purposely avoiding his claws as I raked my blades against his other side, causing the pale blue/white of my ice to turn red. 

Lupine turned to back hand me across the chest, but now my tiredness caught up with me, so despite the adrenaline I couldn't move quickly enough. 

His claws caught me across the chest, causing my armour to squeal as deep grooves were driven into the chest plate. 

I yelled in pain as the claws dug into my flesh through the armour and the force of the blow sent me flying backwards. 

I burst straight through my ice pillar, hit the wall and fell down it and back onto the ice where I'd started as the ice from the pillar rained down. Now I knew what Billy's boomerangs must feel like. 

My left wrist got trapped beneath my chest as I landed, causing me to suck in air through my teeth in pain, my eyes watering slightly. 

I pushed myself to my feet with my right hand, my left hanging in an attempt to not aggravate it any further. However I quickly doubled over and grasped my chest in pain, leaning against the rock face. My chest felt as though it was on fire. 

Lupine had a grin on his canine face as he came down from the wall. 

I grimaced as I began to walk forward, my chest and back in pain and a lot of the air having been forced out of my lungs, again. My wrist wasn't having the best time of it either, and I could feel it throbbing beneath my glove. I was not in a position to fight, and yet I had to somehow. 

Lupine chuckled as I walked. 

"I almost forgot how frail you humans are. It's a shame really; you might have posed a decent threat." 

He walked towards me, his mouth filling with saliva with some of it dripping out of his mouth. Around me the shadows seemed to solidify and spread, heading towards me. 

"Now, Descendant of Frost, prepare to die!" 

I wasn't done yet, and without moving I sent pillar of ice down onto his back, sending Lupine to the floor in a massive gasp, as all the air exiting his lungs. 

I sent spikes of ice down into the skin of limbs, not enough to seriously hurt him, but enough to hold him down. He yelped in pain, and looked at the spikes in almost disbelief. 

The solidified shadows rushed towards Lupine, shattering the ice spikes and he got to his feet, shaking off the ice. 

"What's the matter pup?" He asked as I just stared. I had no idea he could do that. If this fight wasn't already going to be difficult, it certainly was now! 

Lupine seemed calmer now, moving slowly towards me as if he was savouring the moment. 

"It was a good effort, but even the Guardians couldn't beat me. What hope would an injured mortal like you have?" 

I didn't reply, I had a feeling it would hurt my already throbbing chest. 

Ice instead spread from my position, spreading up the wall behind me and thickening the layer on the water. It quickly reached Lupine and his breath began to cloud as the temperature dropped. 

I stood up straight, no longer leaning on the wall, ready for any kind of movement. 

"Spreading ice? Great as an intimidation tactic pup, except I'm not afraid of you." 

I flung my arms out, spreading my fingers at the same time. The ice around him shot up in spikes, pretty much trapping him. 

The shadows shot towards him again to free him, but I formed ice shards behind me and flung them towards him, distracting him. 

In retaliation the shadows around me began to thicken, obscuring my vision. I tried to move, but it was like trying to move through syrup. I could move, but I wasn't moving quickly anytime soon. 

Before anything could happen I pulled up a barrier of ice between me and Lupine. I held it there, but nothing was happening. 

_What's he doing?_

In the darkness an even darker shape appeared, with glowing red eyes. The sight of it made my legs freeze up and my breath to catch in my throat, my heart pounding in my ears. In that moment I forgot where I was and what I was doing, all that mattered is that I didn't want that anywhere near me. 

I backed up as fast as I could in thick shadows, letting go of my wall. The ice remained standing, but there was no re-enforcement behind it now. 

There was a familiar shattering noise in front of me indicating that the wall had shattered. Almost out of instinct I felt picked up the shards with my mind and flung them at the darker thing that was heading for me. 

There was a yelp of pain and the darkness almost seemed to evaporate, leaving me pressed against the wall and a bleeding Lupine in front of me. He almost seemed shocked that I'd got off an attack, rather than being worried by the shards of ice sticking out of him. 

I flung my arm out with an ice blast and he was shoved backwards, off the body of water and onto the ice covered rock. The ice he was standing on crept up and surrounded his paws, leaving him stuck. 

I stood there for a second, trying to get my breathing back under control and stopping my knees from knocking. 

"What's the matter, Descendant? Scared?" 

I glared at Lupine, a sudden burst of anger causing ice to spread along the wall behind me. Yeah, I had been scared, but now I'd had enough. 

"Of what? You?" I asked with a harsh bark of laughter, which didn't carry any humour. "I've seen pot plants that look scarier." 

That didn't hurt to say as much as I thought it would. 

The shadows properly dispersed as I walked up to him as he snarled and struggled against the ice, but it wouldn't give. He shadows around him curled around his trapped paws, sharpening to try and cut through the ice. As he tried to I kept on adding more ice to cover the cracks, adding to the current stalemate. 

Finally, it became clear that Lupine had had enough. 

"Fine then human, you've won, kill me then!" 

I wanted nothing more than to kill him. I was tired, in pain and angry, Lupine would make a perfect target to let it all out on. 

As I walked over I could feel the frost thickening beneath my feet, becoming ice because of my anger. I could also feel it almost straining in response to my anger, I wanted to let it all out, to scream and let forth an ice storm. 

But I wasn't stupid. If I did that I'd kill everyone else in the room who was mortal. 

"No." 

Lupine looked genuinely surprised, and growled. 

"You've bested me, just get on with it." 

"I've killed before, and I didn't like it all that much. Plus, you're a spirit, I'm not stupid enough to try. Instead, I'm going to do this." 

I pressed my free, frost covered hand to his head and sent a cold rush to his head, the same thing I had managed to do to Skyscraper. I ended up causing a brain freeze that would have put a normal person into a coma, I needed to work on it, but it worked anyway.  
>Lupine's eyes rolled back into his head as he passed out. <p>

I turned around to see the Guardians and Heads all staring at me from the rock wall. 

"Before you all look shocked, I've had no food or sleep in 24 hours, I'm really not thinking straight." The more I spoke the easier it became. 

I sent my ice up the walls, freezing and shattering their bonds. I lifted up my visor and let out a loud yawn as Jack approached. 

"I don't think I've ever been happier to see you." He said. 

I smiled and walked back over to the frozen water. I found the staff and wordlessly handed it back to him. Jack's eyes widened and he took almost reverently. 

"I thought you'd want this back." I said. 

"How did you get this?" 

"I went to North's place first. I found it in the mess." I yawned again and my body decided to get on my case. 

My chest and torso were burning, my stomach ached with hunger, my back ached from its meeting with the wall, my wrist was throbbing, the scabs on my legs stung and my leg muscles got on my case for skating for 12 hours at a time for the past week. 

I felt myself stagger a bit and Jack steadied me, but I sent a smile that said I was fine. 

"Jackie!" 

I turned in time to see North practically lifting me up into a hug. 

"Is good to see you!" 

"Good to see you too." I gasped, trying not to cry out as he put pressure on my various injuries. 

Thankfully he put me down with an almost embarrassed grin on his face. I staggered back slightly, off balance and adjusting my glasses. 

The other Guardians had approached and were also saying thank you, but it kinda washed over me. The only thing that stood out was me asking Toothiana to not check my teeth again, remembering all too well what happened last time. 

"Davies." 

I looked over at Jason who had walked towards me with the other Heads behind him, I noticed that Alfred was leaning on the Head of the Descendants of Toothiana and my stomach tensed. The Head's hadn't gotten out of this unscathed. Looking at the Head of the Descendants of Sandman he didn't look great either. He was shaking off the black sand and had dark patches in his hair, showing that he had just started to get contaminated, but as I watched the dark patches began to fade. 

"That was an incredibly foolish of you." Said Jason, his expression neutral, but I could hear the disapproval in his voice. 

I felt whatever remained of a good mood fade. 

"I just save your sorry...behinds!" Reminding myself not to swear in front of the Guardians of Childhood. "And you're telling me-!" 

"Let me finish." 

I glared at Jason as he continued. 

"That was incredibly foolish of you to come charging in like that. While you did show some tactics, waiting for Pitch to leave, overall it was very foolish. If you had been captured, injured or worse killed by Lupine then we may as well have kissed HOG goodbye." 

I felt anger build up within me. Yes, Jason had a point, but it had paid off hadn't it? 

"But I wasn't." I said with gritted teeth. 

"Davies, let me finish." 

I raised my eyebrows and folded my arms, waiting for whatever was going to leave his mouth next. 

"However, I cannot say how grateful we are for your swift response to my call." Said Jason, a relieved smile on his face. 

As glad as I was that he decided that what I had done was worthwhile, I couldn't stop  
>myself from giving an irritated response. <p>

"Swift? It took me a week! How did you know I was coming? All you told me to do was to keep moving." 

"We didn't, but we're very glad that you did." Said the Head Descendant of Toothiana. 

"I didn't doubt that you would at least try, although given the nature of your powers, I wasn't sure how long it would take you. I'm just grateful you found your way here and that you didn't share the fate of the rest of HOG." Continued Jason. 

I decided now was not the time to mention that my first idea was to do as he said and run like hell. 

"What happened to them?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer. 

"Honestly?" Asked Alexander, "We don't know, we're just glad that at least one of us is free." 

Alfred coughed, looking at me with a surprisingly serious expression. He was never one for being too serious, so the look was almost alien on the old man. 

"Look sharp there solider, you're supposed to salute to the Heads." 

I gave him a confused look, I thought he hated formality! Then I noticed the small grin spreading across his face. Deciding to humour the old Scotsman I snapped to attention and put on a salute. 

"Sir!" 

Alfred burst out laughing, startling the Head of the Descendants of Toothiana. "Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humour lass!" 

"And you yours, old timer." I said, relaxing and giving him a tired smile. 

"Old timer!" Cried Alfred with mock offence. "I think you'll find the word is 'vintage' lass." 

"There's a time and a place you two!" Reprimanded Jason. 

"Relax, things can only get better from here." Said Alfred, much to Jason's annoyance.  
>"Now, Jackie, you've got a story to tell, right lass? You can't control air, so how'd ya get 'ere so fast?" <p>

"Well, about that..." I looked a little guiltily at North, "I may have, kinda sorta, used your globes to get here once I saw the state of the Globe." 

"How bad is it?" asked Bunnymund, concerned. 

"Pretty bad. Lights were going were going out all over the place." 

Toothiana gasped in horror, "My fairies! Tell me, are they alright?" 

"They're alive, I think. I didn't stop to get a better look, I'm sorry." 

"What were they like?" 

"They weren't flying. Beyond that I'm not sure." 

"Then something must be done!" cried North. He turned to me, "How many snow globes did you take?" 

"A few, the others are in my bag. Give me a second." 

I went back to my bag and brought it out of wrecked ice, digging out the snow globes. I  
>could have sworn that I had more than I could find, as I could only find two. Shrugging to myself I passed one to North, who insisted I keep the other. <p>

"Alright everybody! We need to get back to work!" 

They cheered and Toothiana started to fly in joy, but quickly found that her wings couldn't get her off the ground. 

"Tooth!" cried the Guardians, with Sandman making an exclamation mark out of sand as they ran to catch her as she stumbled in the air. 

"Tooth, let's get you to Workshop, we can use the sleigh." Said North. 

Toothiana nodded and Jack came back over to me. 

"Are you going to come with us?" 

I shook my head. 

"Sorry, HOG's still in trouble. I have to do my part." 

I suddenly wobbled slightly, "plus I'm shattered. I wouldn't be able to keep up with you guys." 

Jason turned to Alexander. "Alexander, we'll head to the Tunnels to recuperate." 

Jason looked at me. "Are you able to come with us?" 

"Not now. I'm just so tired." That was an understatement, I felt ready to drop where I stood! 

Jason pulled a concerned face and Alfred managed to clap him on the back. 

"Ah, stop ya worrying, Jackie ain't a wee bairn anymore. She can take care of herself, if that beastie is anything to go by." 

I smiled at him thankfully, 

"You're not gettin' outta the story though!" He called as he and Head of the Descendants of Toothiana disappeared into the Tunnel. 

I shook my head and turned to Toothiana. 

"Toothiana, you don't mind if I sleep here for a bit do you?" 

"Of course not." 

I turned back to Alexander, "Keep that Tunnel open, I'll join you in a few hours." 

He nodded, "See ya later Jackie." 

The rest of the Heads went down the Tunnels and the Guardians went through the snow globe. 

I picked up my bag and rose myself upwards, away from Lupine and onto a platform. I took off my helmet, and that was a far as I got as I staggered to the floor and fell asleep on my bag.

**Well, that fight didn't last long.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Not the Groundhog/Not So Eloquent-Glad to know you're still reading despite having finished it already! Although it must be interesting knowing what's going to happen, and the evil laughter in appropriate.**

**Although, since you know about Lupine, I suggest paying attention to the moon stages that are mentioned in the story. You may find something interesting.**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ESCAPED!?"

I shot up from my sleep at the sound of yelling, feeling my neck crack slightly from the uncomfortable position and the sudden movement. 

"Well, more they were rescued." I heard Lupine say. 

I quickly realised what they talking about and slowly got to my feet as Pitch said. 

"By whom?" 

"This human, called itself Jacqueline Davies." 

Oh snap. 

"Well, where did they go?" 

"I don't know, the human froze my brain!" 

I slowly pulled on my bag to creep away, when my hunger betrayed me and my stomach let out a gurgle. 

Pitch and Lupine fell silent and I could almost imagine them looking up at my position in unison. 

There was a snarl and a rushing noise as both Lupine and Pitch rushed up the tower towards me. I jumped to my feet and started to move, only to get halted by the sudden pain in my chest and leg. 

I gasped and doubled over in pain, my eyes watering. At the same time I kicked my helmet, sending it skittering towards the edge of the platform. 

Behind me I heard a small thud as Pitch landed on the platform. I spun around and put on a fake smile, trying to make it look as though I was in perfect health and not scared out of my mind. 

"Ah, you must be Pitch Black, fancy seeing you here." 

"You must be this Jacqueline Davies I've been hearing about. I must say that you look familiar, in an irritating way." 

"One of those faces I guess." I said, unsure if he meant the last time I saw him or whatever resemblance I have to Jack. 

There was louder thud behind me as Lupine landed behind me. I spun around to see his maw in my face. 

"You have a lot to answer for human!" Lupine snarled, stepped forward, having somehow lost the ice shards between now and the battle. Was it me or did he seem larger than before? 

I took a few steps back until I felt myself being lifted off the ground. Looking over my shoulder I saw that Pitch was holding me up by the armour and bag straps, his face twisted into a sneer. 

I drew my feet up and slammed my boots into Lupine's face, causing his face twist away and his fur to crisp with frost. 

He turned back and snarled as I lifted up by my hands to grasp Pitch's hands, sending a cold blast through them. 

He yelled in pain and dropped me, sending me staggering towards and over the edge. An ice pillar caught me and I rose up above them. 

"A Descendant of Frost..." I heard Pitch say softly, his face twisting into a scowl. 

"I'd love to stay and chat." I said, "But I have places to be!" 

I sent a pillar of ice underneath my helmet, sending it flying up into the air. 

I caught it and jumped from the pillar and into the air. Below me an ice bridge formed and I landed on it with my skates. I was off in a flash, heading straight for the entrance to the Tunnels. 

All of a sudden something slammed into my back and I was shoved off the bridge with a yell. I fell on my face in the ground, still somehow holding on to my helmet. I pushed myself up onto my arms and looked up and behind me to see Pitch float down, a cloud of black sand hovering above his hand. 

"Actually, I think you should stick around." 

"Sorry, but I'm running late." 

"Oh." He said with mock worry, "we can't have that now, can we?" 

He sent another blast of sand my way which I blocked with a wall of ice without blinking. 

"Thinking about it." Said Pitch, as Lupine formed out of shadows on the ground and charged at my wall, shattering it, "I do believe we have met, how long ago was it, five years?" 

"Hard to tell, I try to block out what happened" I replied as Lupine got an ice pillar to the face his trouble, sending him backwards with a snarl. 

"I remember you gave my Descendants some trouble." 

"Well, when you're taken prisoner, you're not going to react well." 

"You killed a few of them if I remember correctly." 

"Do you? Because that's not something I remember." I bluffed, getting to my feet. Lupine took the opportunity to charge, but got a slash across the nose before he got too close.  
>As I attacked him, Pitch sent a blast of black sand my way, causing me to duck underneath it. <p>

"I suggest that you give up." Said Pitch, surprisingly calm, but the threat clear in his voice. "You can't take both of us." 

Pitch formed an enormous sickle out of black sand while Lupine stood next to him, ready to attack. 

"I can sure as hell try!" I got to my feet and got an ice pillar to rise beneath me. Pitch swung his sickle and knocked out a chunk, causing the pillar to become unsteady beneath me. 

"If you think you can try that again, you're sadly mistaken!" 

I leapt from the pillar before it could collapse and zoomed away on an ice bridge. Lupine growled and leapt up onto it behind me, his claws giving him a good grip on the ice. 

He bounded after me and I severed the bridge, leaving him stranded in the air. 

I went up high, dodging blasts of sand coming my way with alternating and hopefully random movements. 

I then dived straight down, more or less going completely vertical as the wind pushed against my face, making my eyes stream behind my glasses as gravity did most of the work. I held my hand out in front of me as I slammed into the ground, passing into the Tunnel and having it close above me. 

My ice followed the path of the Tunnel for who knows how far, eventually depositing me in the old war base. 

"Davies!" 

I looked over to the centre of the cavern to see the Heads sitting in a circle together. 

"Come and join us!" Called Jason. 

I made my way over, my body feeling the repercussions of the fight already. 

I sat down heavily and let my bag fall off my back. I dropped my helmet and straightened out my glasses. 

With that I fell back onto the moss and sighed, lying back completely and ignoring the twinge of pain from my chest and back. 

"That's better." I sighed happily. 

"Didn't you just wake up?" asked an unfamiliar male voice, I'm assuming the Head of the Descendants of Sandman, as he didn't often speak. His voice was interesting; it had a European flare to it, Italian perhaps? 

"No, got woken up by Pitch and Lupine arguing. Had a scuffle before I could get away." 

"Your ability to get into impossible fights and out of them again never ceases to amaze me." Said Jason, a smile in his voice. 

"I don't tend to get out of them unscathed. I dread to think what my skin looks like under the armour." 

To illustrate my point I sat up, unbuckled my chest plate and set it down, wincing at the deep grooves in the metal. 

"We'll need you fighting fit as soon as possible." Said Alexander. "You still have a snow globe, right?" 

"Right." 

"We can use it to get to where HOG is being held." Explained Jason, "but you're the only one who's used to combat." 

"I haven't properly fought in a four years." I had sparred though, the Heads had introduced compulsory combat training to the Branch's meetings. I had of course fought against the Descendants of Pitch on the way, but I hadn't done well there in my mind. I suppressed a shudder as the image of those flamethrowers entered my mind. 

"We haven't done it for most of our lives." Said the Head for Toothiana, bringing me back to reality. 

"Why, you're the most powerful, right?" 

"Yes, but we never really took to battlefield, we never even needed to send others until recently. And if we died they'd be a sudden power vacuum, which in difficult situations that's the last thing we need." 

"Alright, but surely you're not expecting me to do this alone?" 

The looks on their faces told me yes. 

"Are you insane? I'm not a one man army!" 

"And you're also tired, hungry and injured." Added Jason, "and your armour no longer fits properly." 

"Not much of a one man army then." Said Alexander. 

"You can't be serious? There's at least two hundred of them!" 

"You've taken them out before." 

"I'm not going to be able to replicate that! I don't _want_ to replicate that!" 

"That's enough!" cried Alfred. 

We looked over in surprise as he said. 

"I know we're asking a lot of ye, but you're not a wee bairn lassie. You're strong, young and healthy. Out of all of us, you have the best chance. Besides, if you can free some of them without being spotted, you won't be fighting alone, will ye?" 

I looked at my feet, contemplating. 

"You don't have to agree right now." Said Jason, "you're injured, it's best if you get some food and rest, so you can heal." 

"What are you going to do?" 

"Personally" He asked, reaching for my chest plate, "I'm going to fix up your armour." 

"You can do that?" I asked, looking up. 

"Of course I can. Let's get the rest of it, then you can go to the Sleeping Quarters and  
>I can head to the forgeries." <p>

I unbuckled the rest of the armour and handed it to him. He looked at it and me in a critical manner, before nodding to himself and wandering off. 

I stood up and lifted up my bag. 

"Well then, if it's all the same to you. Good night." 

"Oh no you don't." 

I looked over at the Head of the Descendants of Toothiana in surprise. 

"What?" 

"Don't think I haven't noticed you favouring your left wrist, or your torn jeans. You didn't get those fighting today, did you?" 

"...No." I admitted, wondering where she was going with this. 

"Then follow me." 

She stood up and walked off without making sure I was following. It was very tempting just to go to the Sleeping Quarters and crash, but my body chose that moment to remind me of the state it was in. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to follow her. 

I followed her into the Medical Cavern, which I'd never had to go into before. 

It was arranged similarly to the Sleeping Quarters, only with the beds spaced more widely apart and large cabinets hanging on the walls. 

The Head got me to sit down on one of the beds so she could take a proper look at my injuries. Underneath my shirt I saw that there were red welts where Lupine had back handed me, he hadn't broken the skin, but no doubt they'd bruise badly. 

After a thorough examination by who I now knew to be Dr Claire Evans, she declared my wrist to be sprained and that I had some nasty bruising across the majority of my torso, with some few day old bruises along my left side. I already knew the state of my leg, which she told me I was lucky wasn't infected. However, other than a bit dehydrated, I was okay. 

So, I wasn't in the best shape, but I could be worse. I could be dead. 

After that diagnosis she disappeared into one of the cabinets, pulling out a bottle of something and a needle and syringe. 

"What on earth do you need a needle for?" I asked, my voice going higher than I would like. 

"A Descendant of North and a Descendant of Toothiana came up with this a few years ago." Claire explained as she read the label on the bottle. "It helps with the pain and speeds healing, so unless you want to have a sprained wrist for a minimum of two weeks..." 

"If it does that then why isn't it commercially available?" 

"Because it's impossible to re-produce without magic." She replied, "And the world isn't ready for something like that. Can you imagine what this would do to drugs companies?" 

She'd drawn up the amount she needed and approached me with the needle. Almost unconsciously I pulled back, eyeing the needle warily. 

"You're not afraid of needles, are you?" Asked Claire, an eyebrow raised. 

"I don't know." 

"How can you not know, surely you've had injections before." She said, as she wiped my arm with cotton wool. 

"Haven't been to the doctors before; I don't get ill." 

Claire eyed me critically. "I've heard similar stories from other Descendants of Jack Frost, must be your lowered body temperature." 

"Hmm." I said, thinking and looking upward as I did so. "I think it's to do with the fact that micro-organisms harmful to humans have an optimum temperature that's the same as a normal person's core temperature. And I don't have a normal core temperature." 

"That's sounds about right. Did you take biochemistry?" 

"No, I just got really bored during PE." 

Claire's silence seemed to convey her confusion. 

"I didn't do PE because my parents were worried that a competitive atmosphere would cause my powers to show. So I faked asthma." 

"...How do you fake asthma?" 

"With practice and a well forged doctor's note." I said. I looked over at Claire, who was still prepping the needle and gave a grin. "I can probably still fake an asthma attack."

"Let's not test that." 

"Suit yourself." I said with a shrug and looked away. The minute I looked away I felt a scratch on my arm. 

I yelped in surprise and looked over to see Claire pulling the needle out of my arm. 

"Y-you could have warned me!" 

"It's a little easier to deliver if the patient is distracted." A small smile appeared on her face. "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" 

"I'm not five years old." I grumbled as she stuck a plaster on the entry area. 

"Most five year olds make less of a fuss than you." She said matter-of-factly. "Now, it takes a few hours for it to fully kick in, so I suggest getting some sleep." 

"As the doctor orders." I said, a smile appearing on my face as I got off the bed. 

"I've heard that one plenty of times Davies." She said as I left, but there was the ghost of a smile there. 

"Oh, and before you disappear." 

I stopped and spun around to see her holding out a bottle of water. 

"Does this have some magical properties too?" 

Claire rolled her eyes. "No, it's just water. Drink and go to bed. That's an order." 

"Sir yes sir." I said a little sarcastically before taking the bottle and downing it. It tasted incredible to my parched mouth, which in all the excitement I hadn't realised that it felt like sandpaper. 

Once I was done I handed the bottle back to Claire and wiped my mouth with the back of my good hand. 

"Thanks." 

"Not a problem. Good night." 

I lay back on the bed, looking at where I thought the moon might be and sighed, the talk in the Main Cavern coming back to me. This whole thing was turning into a suicide mission, and the others were too scared to actually help me! 

_What about my Branch?_ I remembered, none of them had been at their homes for over a week. Their friends and family must be freaking out. I know I was. 

Tears tried to make themselves fall as I thought about them. They had to be okay, please let them be okay. 

I sniffed and rolled over, wincing from the pain my stomach and, well, everywhere else. There's no point getting upset about it now, let's give it time.


	10. Chapter 10

It took three days for the armour to be ready. Jason had ended up making an entirely new set for me, rather than fixing the old set. 

During this time if I wasn't eating or sleeping I was in the old Training halls, practicing my psychic ice and refreshing blocking and parrying. 

It felt good to let everything out on the training dummies. Every single bit of frustration, worry and pain was let out on the dummies, and they probably didn't deserve it, but I didn't care. 

It wasn't as good as letting it out on someone alive, preferably the ones who had caused it all, Pitch and Lupine, but I wasn't suicidal. I'd gotten away once, didn't mean I could do it again. Although, with the Head's plan, I might be able to take it out on Pitch's Descendants. 

Alfred quickly recovered from whatever was wrong with him and he got the story out of me. He made a good audience, and he laughed out loud at the bit in the petrol station, when the cashier was knocked out. 

He paled when I got the bit with the flamethrowers. I had tried to brush over the fight, but Alfred was interested in my techniques, so got the whole story out of me. Once he had it out of me he began cursing them in such a strong accent I couldn't really tell what he was saying, or even if he was speaking English. 

I backed off, wanting to go to the Training Halls, when Alfred stopped cursing and began a dry laugh. 

"You've really freaked out the Descendants of Pitch there lass." 

I stopped and looked at him, a little confused. "What do you mean?" 

"They weren't trying to capture you. Anyone who knows about the Descendants of Jack Frost knows that we're not good around fire. You've already managed to rile them four years ago." 

I flinched, but nodded for him to continue. 

"They're scared of ye, they weren't trying to take ya in, they were tryin' to kill ye lass." 

I froze in place in the Main Cavern, staring at Alfred. 

"H-how c-can you-?" 

"It is a guess, but think about it, they didn't use fire on me, and I'm a Head. You've really made an impression on them." 

"And they tried to kill me." My voice was a disbelieving whisper. My voice going back to Purple Hair, I hadn't thought all that much about it, I'd honestly tried to forget, but she wanted me dead then too. 

"Probably. So when you go get the others, be extra careful, ya hear?" 

I heard alright. 

I went into the Training Hall in a slight daze. I knew the Descendants of Pitch wouldn't exactly like me, I froze over two hundred for crying out loud! But for them to want me dead... 

It almost didn't bear thinking about. 

The third day dawned, or possibly night, I couldn't tell down here. I went to the Main Cavern, where we all ate. I ate my food in silence, ignoring the others as I ate. My injuries had faded by this point, my wrist was no longer painful, the bruising had all but disappeared and the scabs had become scars. Whatever Claire had given me certainly did the job. 

I was jolted out of my thought by something being dumped beside me and a sweaty Jason sitting next to it. 

"There you go." He said wearily. 

I stood up and picked up the armour. It seemed to be the same design as before, but somehow felt lighter. 

"This doesn't feel much sturdier." I said. 

"I tested it with various weapons, as you can see, not even a scratch." 

I looked over at Jason who a smile on his face. "The strongest Descendants of North have quite the connection with magic. That armour you hold is enchanted." 

I looked it over again, but once again, other than size and lightness, I couldn't tell the difference. 

"Well, go on, put it on!" 

I obliged, finding that the armour fit to a T, the groves and slits had the same place in this armour as in the old set and the symbol of Jack's staff was in same place. 

I lowered the clear visor and went into a mock defensive position, sending out my blades.  
>I swung them experimentally to find that armour did not hamper my movements. <p>

"Thank you" I said, then without another word I went to the Training halls to get used to it. 

A few hours later and I was happy. I met with the others in the Main Cavern, carrying the remaining snow globe and ready to go. More or less, what Alfred had told me still rang in my mind, but I was determined to not let it bother me. 

"You do realise." Said Claire. "We don't know for certain that they're all being held together. Plus, the globe is one way." 

I hadn't thought of that, but looked over at Alexander with an idea in mind, "You could follow me, and put up an entrance to the Tunnels, or is that too dangerous for you?" 

"Of course not!" scoffed Alexander, "what do you take me for?" 

"You don't want to know." My respect for them had fallen when they had all declined to help me. 

"But what if they're not all there?" asked Claire. 

"We check out the previously used bases." Replied Jason. 

"Is that the only plan we have?" I asked. 

"Do you have anything better?" 

"...No." I admitted. 

"Well then, are you ready to go?" 

I checked my helmet straps and nodded. 

"Remember, try not to get into a fight before you've freed some people." Said Claire. 

"Noted." 

I picked up the snow globe I'd brought with me and held it for a second, wondering who to think about. My mind drifted to my Branch and fixed firmly on them. Their faces appeared in the globe and I threw it at the ground, shattering the snow globe and allowing the portal to form. 

Alexander bounded next to me and we walked through it, with the now very familiar swirling sensation in my stomach. 

Once we'd walked through it we came to a sudden halt as silence descended. 

We'd walked straight into a group of around ten Pitch Descendants. 

They turned and the two groups stared at each other in silent shock as the portal behind us disappeared. We stood there for a few minutes, waiting for someone to make the first move. 

In a sudden single movement Alexander opened up the hole to the Tunnels and I hopped onto an ice bridge. 

I skated up to the top of the cavern to get a good look, as black sand was blasted towards me. 

There were loads of cages in this cavern, more than there had been just before the war, which was a good sign. It could mean that most of, if not all of HOG was being held here. 

Ignoring the black sand that was sent my way I sped towards the cages. I had to zig zag a bit and people in the cages seemed to gain life as I sped towards them. 

I ran my fingers along the bars, allowing the ice to spread and shatter the bars. The ones in the cages that I first opened just stood on the edge of the door, looking around with a bit of trepidation. 

The Descendants of Pitch had stepped it up, coming up to join me, causing me to slow down and slash at them. 

"If you don't want to help me!" I yelled at the freed members of HOG, "then get to the Tunnels!" 

I used the psychic ice to free the other cages. As one they shattered and a loud roar echoed from them as the occupants rushed forward to join the fight. 

In a flash of inspiration, I formed frost on my ice bridge and began using my toes and powers to draw two large feline shapes. Quickly their barrel like torsos and their magnificent heads appeared in the frost. Once that was done I held my hands and concentrated, imagining them coming to life. 

I'd seen Jack do this a few years ago, and while he'd never taught me this, I could guess how it was done. 

A pair of ice tigers formed and roared. 

I dedicated part of my mind to them, sending them off to fight while I fought some other Descendants of Pitch with the sound of fighting surrounding me. It was difficult to concentrate and this was the first time I'd tried to form and control ice creatures, so I wasn't fighting as well as I could. 

Suddenly there were no Pitch Descendants around me, and I went up high, becoming focused more on the tigers as the others fought. 

I was concentrating so much on the tigers that I didn't notice the person behind me until it was too late.

**We are exactly one third of the way through this arc! And I end it on a cliffhanger, of course.**

**See you all in the New Year!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy New Year everyone! Hope people aren't struggling too much from hangovers, unless you're too young to drink, in which case I hope you had a fun night.**

**Admittedly I spent my New Years alone, at home, with a can of cider. By choice, I'm not good with parties.**

**Anyway, next chapter! GO!**

I was grabbed from behind and lifted from the ice bridge and even higher into the air. I wriggled and squirmed, trying to shoot ice at them as they backed up, I didn't bother shouting, there was so much noise in the cavern I'd never be heard. There was a sudden sickness in my stomach and blackness to my vision, along with the sensation of falling. 

Before I could recover myself I was suddenly in the light, feeling very sick. 

I got given a push and I staggered away, feeling light headed and not seeing clearly. There was blur of black fur in front of me and it collided with me, sending a loud clang  
>through my armour and causing me to spin away from the impact. <p>

Already disorientated I spun and fell over on my back, trying to work out what the heck was going on. 

As I tried to work it out, another figure leapt towards me and landed on top of me. I recognised the face and dirty blonde hair. 

"S-Samuel?" I gasped, as his fingers rooted around under my helmet straps. 

He found my throat in the gap between my helmet and the chest plate and began to squeeze.  
>A determined expression was spread across his face and an enraged look filled his eyes. <p>

"You ruined everything!" He yelled in my face as I scrabbled at his hands. 

"G-get off." I said weakly as I struggled to get air into my screaming lungs. 

Out of a reflex I stamped my foot down and sent a pillar of ice into his stomach from below. He flew upwards and away from me, allowing me to roll over and attempt to get some air back into my lungs, retching as I did so. 

I felt weak and shivery as I pushed up my visor to let out my breakfast, gasping. 

I moved away from the vomit, struggling to stand and using a wall for support. Once I was up a sand arrow appeared out of the shadows and headed straight for my chest. I pushed myself away from the wall to try and dodge, but couldn't react in time as it hit, the arrow bouncing off the chest plate with a clang. 

I was pushed back from the force and shook my head to try and clear it as Samuel appeared out of the shadows in front of me. I staggered away, leaning against the wall as I tried to gauge where we were and what was happening, pain flaring up in my chest from the various impacts. 

It seemed that we were in some kind of residential area at night, which really didn't narrow it down. So I couldn't guarantee help if I yelled for it. 

He came towards me with arrows pointed at the small, exposed parts of the armour, in response I shakily raised my arm and sent up ice shards. 

We sent them off at the same time and he dodged while I blocked with a wall at the same time, neither of us getting a hit in. 

We slowly began to circle, each of us trying to work out what the other was going to do as my eyesight cleared. 

I saw him move his head slightly and I sent out my blades on my arms in response. I ran towards him with my arm raised to stab, only to have him disappear into the shadows. 

I looked around for him, not finding anything in the darkness. I sent ice out in a circle around me, trying to 'see' through it. It found a presence behind me and I turned in time to block a sand axe from above. 

I gritted my teeth as the axe pressed down on my blades. The sheer weight of the thing was forcing me to my knees, but I wasn't about to let go. 

Instead I sent more ice towards the ground below the axe shaft, from there I sent up a sharp ice pillar, shattering the axe into a cloud of sand. 

The cloud of sand spread out in front of me, obscuring my vision in gritty darkness, causing me to cough slightly and wave my hand in front of my face. 

Before I could see clearly through it a darker human shape leapt towards me. 

I managed to move away and Samuel landed on the ground hard. He turned to his head towards me, his face twisted into an animalistic snarl. 

He got to his feet as another figure leapt through the cloud of sand. 

The black form of Lupine landed between me and Samuel and snarled at me. 

"Time for a re-match." He snarled. Samuel walked around Lupine and said with an almost sadistic look on his face. 

"You can't take on both of us." 

My head had finally cleared and the shakiness had been displaced by the adrenaline. With my mind I sent out frost and began drawing in it, but they weren't going to let me do this without a fight. 

I ducked under a projectile from Samuel and jumped aside to avoid Lupine's charge. Lupine turned on his paw and ran back at me, knocking me to the ground. 

My armour clanged as I hit the ground and I shoved my arm up towards Lupine, sending a blast of ice from my hand. Lupine yelped and turned away, trying to get the biting cold off his muzzle. 

While he did that Samuel send more sand projectiles my way, trying to keep me down while Lupine recovered. I threw up an ice barrier which the projectiles got imbedded in, the wall then shattered and flew towards Lupine and Samuel. Lupine danced back to avoid them and Samuel pulled up a barrier of sand. 

In that second I sent my concentration to the drawing in the ice, and ice tiger sprang to life, charging at Lupine. It had worked earlier, so why fix what isn't broken? 

They whirled away, hissing and snarling as they fought. I looked over at Samuel, who was doing his best not to look impressed. 

"This is our fight." I said as I stood up and memories rushed in. This was the one who was in charge, the one who'd kidnapped me and caused Sally to become contaminated by black sand. 

The one who killed Penelope. 

My visor slid down over my face as more shards formed behind me, my anger building. Samuel scoffed. 

"The same old tricks, supposedly it's been four years, but you've barely changed." 

"What, the tigers don't count?" 

Without moving I send the ice shards at him, to which he pulled up a sand shield to block. 

I took to the air with an ice bridge as the sand shield came down. He rose up on the sand and followed me, forming blades of sand. 

I extended my blades and we traded blows above the roof tops. It was difficult, Samuel clearly had more experience with this, and my practice with the Burgess Branch had not prepared me for an opponent of this calibre. 

The sound of another fight below us reached my ears, who was on either side I had no idea, but occasionally I picked up the roar or my ice tiger, that was now controlled by the back of my mind. 

We sped over the rooftops, the sound of screeching ice, grunts and disappeared sand filling the air around us. 

Samuel's blade danced towards me, causing me to parry it, sending it away, but it quickly turned and jabbed me in the small unprotected gap in the side of my armour. 

I hissed in pain and flung one blade forward towards his face, causing a cut to open up by his left eye. Samuel cried out and wheeled away as blood spilled down his face and into his eye. He turned back to me with a scowl and lunged his blade straight towards my chest, where it was rebounded by the armour. 

It was enough to send me back slightly and I changed the width of the bridge to compensate. From there I went over a house and dodged around an aerial, allowing him to crash right into it. Samuel seemed to growl and went after me, firing round after round of knives at me, each one I blocked with a swipe of my blades. 

One got through and sent my further back, into someone's window. I grunted in pain and stood on a plane of ice for a second, my mind running through strategic options. Behind me I heard something tap the window. 

Despite the fight I turned to see a pair of kids, one boy and girl, about five years old, staring at me with open mouths. 

They looked remarkably similar, blonde hair and wide blue eyes. Twins perhaps? 

I looked for about half a second, and in a moment of silliness, saluted and skated off to my right. I skated backwards, keeping an eye on Samuel behind me. 

Samuel came straight towards me through the storm of blades and raised his sword again, causing me to raise my elbow blades to block. He pushed down and I struggled to stay standing, he was still older than me biologically and was still stronger. One of us was either going to have to give or do something else to get out of this. 

Suddenly one my blades snapped and the sword came down, scraping down my helmet and chest plate and the force of the impact sent me flying from the bridge. I formed another bridge to catch me, but a burst of sand caught me in the chest as I began to stand up on it. I was sent into the side of building with a gasp. The armour had taken the brunt of the impact, but the breath was still forced out my lungs. 

I fell into an alley way on my hands and knees. As I started to get to my feet Samuel landed, ready to gloat and clearly ignoring the steady stream of blood going down his face. 

"Most powerful my ass! You're pathetic, you know that? You're the one who beat us? I'm struggling to believe that! And I was there!" 

I staggered to my feet, ice spreading rapidly. "Pathetic, am I?" 

Icicles burst out the walls one by one, their tips facing towards him. He went backwards slightly and the ground below him became slippery with ice. 

"Do you think I sat on my arse for four years?" I asked, walking towards him. More spikes shot out of the ground and ice grasped his feet, holding him place. 

"I trained. Day in, day out. I honed and perfected my techniques. I never expected you to break out, it's just something I do, because I don't slack off when war is no longer immanent." 

Sand coated his feet with sand and melted the ice, causing him to stagger free. 

The pillars of ice on the walls shot forward and wrapped around his wrists and ankles, lifting him into the air. 

He struggled, but the ice held fast as I used ice to get myself level with his face. The blades on my wrists had reformed and a dark part of my mind whispered to me. 

_You could do it, right now, you can kill him._

Samuel seemed to echo my thoughts, not allowing fear to cross his face. 

"Go on, kill me, you must've been waiting for years for revenge. Get on with it already." 

I raised my arm, the blades pointed towards his heart. I could feel blood roaring my ears and my gaze narrowed until all I could see was my blade and a possible target. I could do it, just one thrust forward and that would be it, I could unleash a fortnight's worth of anger and pain and get revenge in one simple movement. An eye for an eye. 

My arm remained level, then began to wobble. After a few tense seconds I slowly lowered  
>it, the blades disappearing. <p>

"It was four years ago, I've moved on. There's no point in killing you." 

I moved back slightly. "Besides, killing isn't how I do things." 

"You killed six of my best, and froze two hundred of us!" He yelled as I lowered myself and walked away. 

"You even killed your own brother!" 

I turned, formed an ice bridge towards him and skated towards him in less than a second. 

"Let me re-phrase that. Intentional killing, isn't my style." I said, my face inches from  
>his. <p>

My mood soured I walked away, leaving him hanging there. 

He wasn't done though. 

As I entered the street I heard him yell after me. 

"Murderer!" 

I froze on the spot, my eyes wide with shock and my fists clenched in anger. 

"Murderer!" 

Before he could get another cry I spun on the spot and sent an ice blast at him, hitting him in the stomach and winding him. Before he could get his breath back I covered his mouth in film of ice. 

Let's see him get out of that.


	12. Chapter 12

I walked back into the main street to find the Guardian's surrounding Pitch. By this point the adrenaline had faded, and I could feel how tired my body was. It wasn't bad, I wasn't going to collapse, but I wasn't going to be fighting soon. 

I leaned back against the wall, not paying attention to the Guardians. My eyes found the close to full moon and I relaxed, now able to focus my full attention to the Lupine and ice tiger fight. 

My ice tiger wasn't in great shape, a leg and half its jaw was missing. I re-formed it and it continued battling Lupine, who didn't really stand a chance. 

The pair ran into the same road we were all on. Lupine skidded to a halt when he saw that the Guardians had Pitch surrounded, then turned in fear as my ice tiger growled. 

He glared in my direction and snarled. 

"One day, I will destroy you." 

"Good luck with that." I wasn't in the mood for villain declarations. 

Lupine wasn't done. 

"You and your little pigs couldn't hope to take me on, you'll need an army!" 

"I'd hate to cut down your ego, but I have to correct you. We have always been an army. We just haven't had to go to war in a while. Now, are you done?" 

Lupine growled at me, then glanced at the Guardians. He looked back at my ice tiger and snarled one last time. 

From there he seemed to melt into the shadows and disappeared. 

I looked over at my ice tiger and let it quickly melt. I'd grown kinda fond of it; I didn't want it to suffer. Even though it was made of ice, so it didn't feel pain. 

I waited until the Guardians were done. I wasn't paying much attention to what was going on, other than the bright glow of Dreamsand. But when they were done I caught North giving me a concerned look. 

"What?" I asked. 

"You be careful. That tiger, that's a dangerous path for your power. It could gain its own mind if not careful." He said, sheathing both his swords 

"And since when were you an expert on my kind of power?" 

"I know a lot about magic Jackie, that's a dangerous road to go down." 

"Okay okay, I get the point." I said, raising my hands into the air. 

"Someone's a bit crabby today." Commented Jack. 

I sighed and took off my helmet to get some proper air. 

"I've been hanging around the Heads for the past three days, and they annoy me." I said, tucking my helmet under my arm. I felt a small stab of pain in my side, reminding me that I was actually injured. 

"That would explain it." 

"They don't annoy me all the time, Alexander and Alfred are alright, and Jason is sometimes. They can just be so uptight, and afraid to get into involved today because if they get killed they'll leave a power vacuum." I said, pressing my fingers against the cut and covering it with a layer of frost. 

I sighed again and ruffled my hair, "so yeah, they can really annoy me." 

"Okay, kid, there's something I've been wondering." Said Bunnymund, tapping his boomerang against the back of his shoulder, then pointing it at me as he spoke. "How did you get here? And what were you even doing?" 

"I used the last snow globe to find the rest of HOG and it dumped me in the middle of a group of Pitch Descendants, so it was a bit of mad fight. I started freeing some of them and using ice tigers. Next thing I know I'm grabbed from behind and, I think pulled away via shadow travel. Which if you don't know can make you really travel sick, so I appear out here, not really knowing what the heck just happened and about to lose my breakfast. I get thrown to the side by a furball and Samuel comes out of nowhere and tries to throttle me." 

"You took a hit from Lupine. Again." Said Toothiana, looking concerned. Looking down at my armour I saw that it bore no sign of the impact. 

"Well, the new armour's holding up well. You probably saw the state of the old armour after it got backhanded by Lupine." 

"You mentioned an army." Said North, clearly opening up the question. 

"According to Nigel that's the original purpose of the Human Order of Guardians, we just  
>haven't done it since the dark ages." I explained. "The last time we did it was four years ago, and most of us weren't exactly battle ready. I personally sat out most of it, since I wasn't 18." <p>

At that moment the ground next to me cracked and opened. Out hopped Alexander, who looked around for a bit before landing his gaze on me. 

"Ah, Davies! We were wondering what happened to you." 

"Well the answer to that is hanging up by ice just down that alleyway if you want to look Alexander." I said, pointing down said alley. 

"And don't expect me to salute." I added. 

He chuckled, "I think I'll trust you judgment, Davies. You have a tendency for dealing with these matters." 

I felt my face frown. "I haven't done anything to him, other than got him a bit bruised in the struggle. I think you'll find that he's unfrozen." 

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but assume. We'll leave him for the authorities to handle." 

As much as I liked Alexander, it was suddenly very tempting to punch him. 

"Anyway, I've brought some people that you'd probably like to see." 

Out of the Tunnel popped, Nigel, Billy, Tina and Sally. My Branch. 

A fortnight's worth of worry was lifted from my shoulders and I felt myself relax properly. They were okay, they were alive. 

"Guys..." 

Billy bounded up towards me. "It's good to see you're alright kiddo." He grinned. 

"I'm nineteen; don't you think I'm a little old for the nickname 'kiddo'?" 

"Nope. Once kiddo, always kiddo." He replied, ruffling my hair. I was too relieved to see him to try and wave his hand away. 

Billy stepped back slightly, got a good look up and down and clapped a hand to my shoulder. 

"Look at you in that armour. Proper little badass." 

"Oh stop teasing Jackie." I heard Tina say. "She's probably been worried sick without you making jokes about it." 

"What are you going to do about it Pixie?" taunted Billy, but even I could tell his heart wasn't really in the mood to be arguing with Tina. 

She also seemed to not be in the mood, as she let the 'Pixie' comment go, for now. 

I felt my throat burn as the others walked up and I had to try to not burst into relieved tears. 

"I was so worried about you guys." I admitted, choked up. 

Sally was the first to pull me into a hug, which ended up in a group hug. 

"We were also worried, when we couldn't find you down there, we assumed the worst." Said Nigel. 

"You have no idea how much of a relief to see you storming in like that." Said Tina, "but we lost you again in the crowd." 

"Yeah, what took you so long this time?" joked Billy. 

"I'm sorry that I couldn't pull the ability to shadow travel out of my behind." 

I pulled out of the hug and looked at my Branch and at the Guardians, who Alexander was now bowing to. 

"Anyway, guys, these are the Guardians, Guardians, that's Alexander, Head of the Descendants of Bunnymund. This is the Burgess Branch." I gestured to my Branch. 

"Nigel Smith, Billy Osbourne, Tina Hawkins and Sally Jeffries." I said, pointing to each member. 

My Branch reacted surprisingly calmly, well, in Billy's case that still meant rocking back and forth on his heels. Tina was managing to keep calm, but I knew her well enough to know that she was only just holding it back. Although I wasn't sure that I wanted to know what 'it' was. 

"I guess its story time then." I said after a few awkward seconds. 

I began to explain what happened with me, getting the call from Jason, finding the cavern empty, not being able to contact them. I went straight through until the fight I had just finished, skipping over the details, such as the flamethrowers, I didn't want to remember them. 

Once I was done, Nigel, the oldest of the Branch, looked very concerned. 

"Lupine, the Big Bad Wolf. This is not good." 

"You don't say." I replied. 

"Can you please tone down the sarcasm, I know you haven't had the easiest time, but there's no need for that." 

I held up my hands in mock surrender. "Okay, I'm sorry." 

I could hear a soft whirring as Toothiana flew over. 

"Hey, I hate to interrupt, but one, this probably isn't the best place to discuss this kind of thing, and two. Jackie took on Lupine and lived, twice. Doesn't that warrant some congratulations?" 

"Jackie has a habit of surviving the impossible." Replied Tina, who was looking at Toothiana in wonder. 

"You make it sound so mundane!" I protested, "Plus, I haven't done anything death defying in four years!" 

Nigel visibly winced, "and I think we should avoid more incidents like that." 

"I'm sorry that I reacted in a reasonable manner to the death of my friend." 

"You froze two hundred people." 

I held up and finger and opened my mouth to make come back, then closed it when I realised that I didn't have one. 

"Alright, you got me there." 

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second." Said Bunnymund walking over, "You froze two hundred people? In one big go?" 

"Yeeeah, it wasn't planned if that's what you're worried about." 

"That's worse; that means you haven't got under control!" 

"I didn't have it properly under control, but it was four years ago, after some practice, and some help from Jack here." I nudged the Spirit of Winter, suddenly noticing that I was the same height as him now. "And I got it together." 

"How do you know? From the sounds if it you went crazy because your friend died!" 

"My friend was executed, I think I had every right to lose control right then." 

Bunnymund made to reply, but something made him stop in his tracks.


	13. Chapter 13

At the exact same time, Alexander, Billy and Bunnymund stopped and stared at the same spot. An alleyway behind us. 

"What's up with you three?" asked Jack, jumping between them. 

Bunnymund's ears were swivelling and if the other two could move their ears, they'd be doing the same. 

"Something down there Nigel." Said Billy softly. 

"What?" 

"Dunno, can't get a lock on." 

Bunnymund danced backwards slightly, "can't tell what it is." He told the Guardians. 

Alexander however seemed to know what it was, because I could blood drain from his face.  
>Nigel looked to him to tell us, but Alexander seemed unable to say, taking several very hurried steps back. <p>

Obviously seeing that the Head wasn't going to be able to help, Nigel took charge. 

"Everyone, positions." Hissed Nigel. Myself, Tina and Sally took to the air whilst Billy and Nigel stood side by side, hands close to their weapons. Nigel had his hands close to the inside of the long coat he'd taken to wearing and Billy's hands hung by the holsters on his thighs. So much for not fighting any time soon. 

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Tina's hands drifting to her belt where her sword, the Baza, was sheathed in its blue and purple scabbard. I was surprised that they still had them, or maybe they picked them up before coming here. 

Sally formed her gladius while on her platform of sand and I put my helmet back on, fiddling with the straps. 

Out of the corner of my other eye I could see the Guardians staring at us, I couldn't quite see their expressions, but I bet they were either confused or impressed. 

"Jackie." Hissed Nigel, "You're the only one in armour, we need you up front." 

Without a word I sent the ice bridge down, skidding to a halt on the ground. Once on the tarmac I stood next to Billy in a defensive position, my back leg bent and my front bent slightly less. My arms were held in front of me, my right across my chest with the palm down and my left almost fully extended, but slightly bent with the palm also facing down. 

A padding noise was heard from the alley and I tried to keep my body loose. In a single movement my blades shot out. 

The shadows in the alley way condensed, then separated into groups of shadowy wolves with glowing red eyes. We all tensed, ready to charge forward. 

The lead wolf lifted its head into the sky and let out a howl, then the surrounding wolves charged. 

"GO GO GO!" 

I skated forward, my arms out straight on either side of me. I went straight through the charging wolves and carved a path, my blades slicing up the ones on either side of me. 

One bounded into the gap and kicked at my chest. It didn't hurt, but my momentum was halted, so the surrounding wolves dived at me. I whirled and slashed, sometimes forming ice projectiles to send them flying. 

Something heavy thudded into my chest and I cried out, skidding backwards. Another hit, the hind legs of several wolves, sent me flying upwards and away from the group. 

I hit the ground and skidded, the impact making my armour rattle and squeal. 

"JACKIE!" I heard Jack yell. 

"I'm alright!" I called back, jumping to my feet. 

I saw a wolf break free from the group and I skated away from it, causing it to slam into a wall. 

I took to the air and formed ice shards behind me, which were fired at the stunned wolf, causing it to split into pieces and disappear. 

I turned back to the main group and quickly saw a shadow wolf about to lunge at Billy's back. 

"BILLY! HEADS UP!" I yelled, sending a shard of ice into it. 

It yelped and Billy finished it off with a slash with the boomerang. "Thanks!" 

The wolves had spread out into the street and now the Guardians were involved, I saw Tina and Toothiana hovering side by side for a second before flying back into the fray. 

I also went back in, slashing the shadows to bits. Occasionally one would latch onto me, but they wouldn't be able to get through the armour. In response to such attacks I covered the armour in spikes, impaling them and causing them to fall off. 

At one point Jack was grounded, and we ended up back to back as we held off the shadow wolves. He sent ice blasts from his staff as I did the same with my hands. 

"So, how've you been since I last saw you?" Asked Jack as several shadow wolves in front  
>of him got blasted to bits. <p>

"Still alive, so I can't complain." I replied, sending spikes to decapitate the nearest shadow wolf. "You?" 

"You know, same old same old." Another set of wolves disappeared beneath a flurry of ice. 

A shadow wolf leapt at both of us from my left, causing the two of us to turn and shoot it down with ice at the same time. 

"Little over the top snowman." I commented with raised eyebrows. 

"He probably had it coming to him." 

The level of wolves seemed to increase, making it suddenly a lot more difficult to have casual conversations in the middle of a battle. 

"Jackie!" 

I looked over at where Billy was slightly away from the main fight, catching his breath. 

"Flying Ice?" 

I nodded and ran over to him, slashing any shadow wolves that came too close. As soon as I was close enough he grabbed my arm and jumped several feet into the air from standing.  
>He spun me around and let go, so that my momentum was making me head straight for the shadow wolves. <p>

From there I sent out ice shards in an arc, then continued sending out arcs as I descended. Once I hit the ground the tarmac below my feet froze, and any shadow wolf that was close enough was treated to ice spikes from below. 

Above us Tina and Sally were working together. Sally had made her sand swirl around Tina, which turned into spikes when a shadow wolf got close. 

I took a glance at the alley, where more and more were pouring out. 

"We're not stopping them!" Yelled Nigel, swinging a pair of swords, the sudden resemblance to North took me by surprise. There was a blur and a hum above us as Tina went flying into the alley way. 

"TINA!" yelled Sally. 

"She'll be fine Sally!" called back Nigel, "We need you up front!" 

I took to the air and sped over the alley. Down below I could see Tina fighting a larger shadow wolf, while in the back I could the glowing red eyes of Lupine. 

"JACKIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET BACK HERE!" Yelled Nigel over various snarls and yelps. 

I stood up there for a second, then went back to the main group, an idea forming. 

"EVERYONE!" I yelled, "JUMP!" 

"WHY?" 

"JUST DO IT! ON THREE!" 

I counted to three out loud and they all jumped into the air. In that instant I sent a wave of ice towards the shadow wolves and they skidded uncertainly on the ice. I found them via the ice and sent small waves along it, catching them and sending them back. 

I used my arms to re-enforce the movement, making quick, sharp, upward and horizontal movements to form the waves and push back the wolves. I didn't quite trust psychic ice for such careful and unfamiliar movements. 

They backed up towards the alley and once they were in I formed a wall by drawing up my arms. 

The sudden pressure against the wall sent me staggering back a couple of steps, but I recovered and stood there, holding them out with my arms outstretched. 

"Someone check on Tina" I said, "I have to keep this in place." 

There was a golden blur as Sally went to check on her friend. I felt a presence beside me as Bunnymund hopped over. 

"Strewth." He breathed. "You might just give Jack a run for his money." 

I heard Jack huff and a small smile broke out under my visor. "Well, I don't know about that." 

"What was it you said the other day to Lupine? Most powerful Descendant?" 

"Officially, but it's debatable. You haven't seen some of the others." 

Above the barrier I could see Tina and Sally flying back over. They landed and Tina stared at the barrier. 

"Been a while since I've seen you do that." She said 

"Well, now I am. For good reason" 

"Tina." Said Nigel, "What's it like over there?" 

"Well, Lupine's on that side, and he looked mad when we left." 

As if on cue there was a boom and sudden, stronger surge at the barrier. 

I grunted from the new force, sliding back a few steps. Another thud and I slid back another few feet, my boots failing to provide much in the way of friction. 

I gritted my teeth as a crack appeared and began to spider web. I walked forward slowly, sending ice up to cover it, as another crack appeared. I couldn't hold it forever, so as much as it dented my pride, I needed to ask for help. 

"Alexander!" I called, "A little help wouldn't go amiss." 

"I'm sure you've got it." I heard him call back, from what seemed like a safe distance away. Far away from the previous fight by the sounds of it. 

"I'm not willing to risk everyone else's safety over misplaced overconfidence, so get off your arse for once and help me!" 

Alexander stepped forward and pulled up an earth barrier on our side to catch any breakthroughs. 

"Spoken like a true Head." He commented. 

I growled beneath my helmet. "I've had this argument with Jason, I'm not having it with you." 

"Alfred won't last forever you know, and he's already said-" 

"For the love of all that is good Alexander! If you don't shut up then so help me..." 

I heard a joint snort as both Jack and Bunnymund tried to hold back their laughter. 

I sighed and continued concentrating on the barrier, when all of a sudden there was a retreat in pressure. I kept my position, curious and wary as to what was happening. 

There was a sudden new pile of pressure against the barrier, so strong this time that I was sent off my feet, control broken. 

I yelled as I flew back, skidding on the ground. I hadn't done up my helmet correctly, so that skittered away as I came to a halt. 

I sat up almost immediately and saw Alexander taking up the slack. His shoulders visibly strained as he held them back, I wasn't sure he could last.


	14. Chapter 14

**Reviews!**

**AriArlene-Thank you, that's lovely of you to say. I have a feeling that's going to be one to re-read whenever I feel down.**

**And, story time!**

"This isn't working." Said Nigel. "We need a plan."

"Yeah." I replied standing up, "Before someone calls the police." 

North stepped up. 

"Lupine is afraid of us without Pitch, so we go to him." 

"You think Lupine's causing this?" asked Nigel. 

"Well, he is there, and manipulating shadows is his thing." Said Bunnymund. 

"Wait, so our plan is to go over there and, intimidate him?" asked Jack. 

"Exactly, is good plan." 

Jack looked over at me, with an incredulous expression on his face. I just shrugged. 

Looking at the Burgess Branch I saw them looking at each other, then nodding. 

"It's not as if we could stop you." Said Nigel, stepping away from the wall. 

The Guardians looked at each other and nodded, then flew or jumped over the wall. We couldn't see what was going on, but there was a loud yelp and Alexander visibly relaxed.  
>While they were gone I went to retrieve my helmet from the shadows of a house. <p>

The five Guardians came back over and Alexander let the wall collapse, revealing an empty alley way. 

"What happened?" asked Billy. 

"We arrived and Lupine scarpered." Said Bunnymund simply. And that seemed to be the end of it. 

I looked over at Nigel whose thick eyebrows were still matted with sweat. 

"You alright old man?" I asked partially jokingly. 

Nigel's eyes narrowed, "I'm not old yet young lady." He said, using his swords to make his point. 

"Ah, but you're not far off." I teased and Nigel sighed, glancing at Billy and Jack. 

"It seems you've been getting lessons in how to be flippant from these two." He said, pointing to the pair of them with his swords. At the same time both Billy and Jack looked away with mock innocence, with Jack whistling and Billy being unable to stop the grin breaking across his face. 

"Ah, kiddo doesn't need lessons from me. Kiddo's not a kid anymore." Billy mock sniffed. 

I raised an eyebrow and sent a sheet of ice his way, causing him to slip slightly. 

"Oh, two can play at that game Frosty!" 

"F-Frosty?!" I spluttered, trying not to laugh. "Surely you can come up with something better than that, Skippy." 

"How's Icicle?" He responded with a grin. 

"Slightly better..." 

Any other banter faded from my lips as Billy tensed his legs and I backed off, seeing what was coming. 

"Oh boy..." 

I continued backing away as Billy leapt an almost impossible height into the air, then came down right on top of me. 

My armour clanged from the impact and I was forced to the ground with a yell of surprise by the weight of the Australian now sitting on me. I lost my grip on my helmet and it clattered to the ground, not quite masking the sound of Jack laughing. 

"Bloody hell Jackie! Your armour's freezing!" Billy said, "And painful." 

"That's what you get for jumping someone in armour that's designed to match the body temperature of someone who's naturally almost freezing. Now let me up!" 

"Hmmm, I'll think about it." 

I thought for a second. 

"Might get frostbite if you sit there too long." 

Billy jumped up in a hurry as I sat up, laughing at his sudden desire to get away. He stopped and turned back to me, disbelief on his face. 

"You were just messing with me, weren't you?" 

"Maybe." I said grinning as I stood up and retrieved my helmet. 

"Right, you asked for it." Billy came back over, forced me in a headlock and began rubbing his fist against my forehead. 

"Ow, stop it!" I protested, struggling not to laugh. "Get off you big lump!" 

"Knock it off you two!" cried Nigel, clearly fed up at our antics. Billy and I stopped, looked at each other, then looked back at Nigel with sheepish grins. 

Billy let me out and stood there more than a little sheepishly as Nigel sighed and shook his head. 

"I swear, the mentality of toddlers, the pair of you." 

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Sally struggling not to laugh, and Tina nudging her in the ribs in an irritated manner. 

Alexander let out a cough to draw out attention, his expression showing that he'd been trying to ignore our behaviour. 

"As much as I'm sure we'd all like to talk, but we," He gestured to himself and my Branch, "have to go." 

"We do?" I asked. 

Yes, there's a ceremony waiting." Explained Alexander to the clink of Nigel putting away his swords. 

"A ceremony?" I asked. 

"Yes, in your honour of course, for without you we wouldn't be standing here discussing it." 

I felt my face pale and I took an involuntary step back. 

"Y-you know, I-I think I'll just head back to Burgess. I-I mean, n-no need to go to that k-kind of trouble, right?" 

Billy chuckled, "The Big Bad Wolf and the Bogeyman, not a problem, a little pomp and circumstance? That's your kryptonite." 

I gave Billy a jab in the ribs for earlier, then looked at Nigel. 

"Can I not just-?" 

"No, sorry Jackie, but it's an inevitable part of you are now." Said Nigel, his face showing that he was not about to take any more antics from me. "You'd better get used to it. Now you're of age, you're going be expected to do these things." 

A grin spread across his face, "And if you think I'm letting you get away with that comment about my age earlier..." 

I groaned "Is there not something-?" 

"No." 

"Come on, please, just this once?" 

"Nope, sorry kiddo." 

"Sally, back me up!" 

Even Sally, who was usually on my side, shrugged. 

"I don't think you can get out of this one." She said. 

"Besides," added Tina, "you know Sally and I would be able to catch you if try to get out of it." 

"Is that a challenge?" I replied, a grin forming on my face as an idea formed. Tina quickly realised what she'd done as I set off on a bridge of ice, cackling. 

"JACQUELINE DAVIES, GET BACK HERE!" 

"YOU'LL HAVE TO CATCH ME FIRST!" I called, turning around to look back at them. I let out  
>a whoop and faced forward, ducking into a more streamlined position. <p>

I heard humming behind me and dived into the buildings, zig zagging between them. 

"Jackie! Someone's going to see!" I heard her cry, worryingly close. 

I picked up the speed only to find a wall of golden sand in front of me. Not having the time or height to make the jump I took a sharp left. 

Another golden wall made me take another sharp turn, and this time I was fuming, they were herding me back towards the group. 

I rose above the buildings, hoping to get away in the open sky without the twisting corners, which is where I made my mistake. In the open air, Tina was easily faster than me. 

Her arms wrapped around me and lifted me off the bridge with ease with her dragonfly like wings. I wriggled and squirmed, but ultimately saw that I was beaten as we landed back with the group. 

Alexander was staring open mouthed and shook his head as we landed."And Alfred thinks you'll be a Head one day." 

"Not of I have anything to do with it." I grumbled as Tina dropped me. Behind us I could hear North chuckling. 

"She's definitely related to you." He said, presumably to Jack. 

"When have you ever seen me act like that?" Jack protested. 

"Never, but that's something you would do." Commented Bunnymund. 

"It's sweet, they act like a family." I heard Toothiana say. 

My eyes flicked back and forth between my Branch, maybe there was a chance that I could get between them and run? 

Billy saw my expression and shook his head, chuckling. 

"Do you really want to try and beat me in a race? 'Cause it's not gonna work kiddo." 

I sighed and we headed back to the Tunnel, my shoulders slumped in defeat. I looked over at the Guardians partially hopefully, but they didn't step in. 

"Sorry, this is your thing, not ours." Said Jack, trying to stop a smile spread across his face as I stuck my tongue out at him. 

"Grow up Jackie." Scolded Tina. 

"Definitely not planning on doing that." I shot back.

**Slightly anticlimactic with how Lupine was handled, but I see this one as a bit more of a comedic chapter. I usually struggle with writing funny stuff, but I think I succeeded here.**


	15. Chapter 15

**AriArlene-Thank you! I usually struggle with having so many characters at once, so the fact you think I handled it well makes me really happy! I did write the banter with a massive grin on my face, so I'm glad I'm the only one who found it funny.**

**On a slightly different note. I'll admit I felt that the last chapter ended a little oddly. It's just that there wasn't really a good place to end off the chapter without it going on too long.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

Before we got in, Tina seemed to remember something. As we passed Billy her fist shot out and she punched him on the shoulder. 

"That's for the Pixie comment." She said dryly as Billy yelped and rubbed his shoulder. 

"That was uncalled for!" 

"So was the Pixie comment!" 

"Think that's the worst I could come up with Miss Prissy?!" 

"Is that so, Rodger Rabbit?" 

I could hear Jack cracking up in the background as Nigel, Sally and I looked at each other with the same, exasperated expression. 

Sally grabbed hold of Tina with Dream Sand and Nigel got hold of Billy and physically pulled them apart before they could start trading blows. However, pulling Tina back now gave me the chance to get the heck out of here. 

I started walking casually away from the group, looking shiftily over my shoulder. Once I thought I was in the clear I felt something wrap around my waist. 

I looked down to see rope made of Dream Sand wrapped around my waist. My shoulders slumped and I sighed as I looked over my shoulder, seeing Sally on the other end, also holding onto Tina. Her expression was just _'Really?'_

"You can't blame me for trying." 

Sally shook her head and gave the sand around me a light tug. 

"Please?" 

"No, we've wasted enough time." She said, by now Tina and Billy had calmed down enough for Nigel and Sally to let them go. 

Alexander coughed. "Yes, Miss Jeffries is right. We'd better be going." 

Sally kept a tight hold of the Dream Sand until I was close enough for them to grab me if I tried to escape. I took one last, partially hopeful look at the Guardians, who I guessed by now weren't going to help, then I jumped down the Tunnel. 

I had been made to go down the Tunnel first, so I couldn't pull off anything on the way down. 

I took it as slow as I dared, really putting this off. Sadly I couldn't do it forever, and I entered the war base to enthusiastic applause. 

Going redder than a tomato I walked out into the Main Cavern, my eyes scanning for somewhere to try to disappear to quietly. After some prodding from Alexander, I joined him and the other Heads on the ridge above the crowd. 

The other four Heads seemed to wearing cloaks of different colours. Claire was in a deep purple one, the Head of the Descendants of Sandman was in pale yellow, Jason was in bright red and Alfred was in pale blue. 

When Alexander walked up he got a dark green cloak passed to him furtively from Alfred, and Alexander quickly swung it over his shoulders, clipping the egg shaped clasp into place. 

Once the noise had died down Jason began to speak. 

"It is a delight to see you all safe and well. Later we shall discuss the implications of the past few weeks, but now is the time to celebrate!" 

He turned to me with a huge smile on his face, as mine went even redder and I just wanted the ground to swallow me up. 

"Miss Jacqueline Davies, Descendant of Jack Frost, for the second time you have sacrificed your own safety for the safety of the Order. For this we have dug out the war medals and crafted some new ones and we would like to award you an award for diligent services to the Human Order of Guardians!" 

He held up a badge in the shape of a snowflake with a boar in the centre for the crowd to see, then turned back to me. He hung it on my chest plate and I went even redder as the crowd erupted into applause. 

_Can I please leave now?"_ I silently begged. 

Thankfully this was answered as the crowd dispersed, heading to the Sleeping Quarters for the night, planning on partying and then heading back home the next day. 

I really didn't want to have to deal with the attention at this point, so I headed straight for the Training Halls. 

Some things didn't change over four years, and my dislike for the spotlight was one of them. 

I went into the ice room, sat down against the wall and sighed, letting my body relax.  
>Instantly my chest, throat and back made their pain known. The worst was easily my throat, since it wasn't protected by armour for that particular instance. <p>

I rubbed it, wincing at the pain, no doubt they'll be some bruising there in the morning.  
>My arm brushed against something and I looked down, seeing the plain metal medal on my chest. I plucked it off my armour and had a closer look. <p>

It wasn't all that impressive. It was made from a silver coloured metal, and was in the shape of a boar against an eight sided snowflake. The ribbon was ice blue and white striped with a hook made of the same metal, so it could hang from anything I assumed. I flipped it over to see my name and the year imprinted on the back. I was honestly surprised that the Heads had had the time to make this. 

"Jackie?" 

I jumped and closed my fist around the medal before looking over at the door. In it was a young girl I hadn't seen a while. 

"Hey Alice." 

She'd grown up quite a bit since the war, her straight brown hair now hung past her shoulders. The last time I'd seen her was in the regularly organised workshops that Alfred put on, where all the known Descendants of Jack Frost got together to practice. I had a soft spot for her, maybe because she spent the first year trying to use me as a human climbing frame. 

"What are you doing up here on your own? Everyone wants to celebrate with you, to hear your story." She asked. 

"I can't." 

"Why?" 

"Situations like this, I hate them. I actually tried to get away from this by heading home, but my Branch and Alexander weren't having any of it." 

"But you're a hero." 

"And I'd rather be a hero without the fuss. I can't handle it." 

Alice walked over and sat down next to me. 

"So let me get this straight. You have survived and can do the impossible, have taken on the Bogeyman and the Big Bad Wolf and lived to tell the tale, and all this attention has you afraid?" 

"Got it in one." 

"Doesn't mean you have sit up here all on your own. You could just explain it." 

"I don't think they'd understand, and there's too many of them anyway. Better just to get out of the way for a bit, maybe even go home while no one's looking." 

"Is it really that bad for you?" 

I nodded, then looked over as she stood up. "Where are you going?" 

"To get your bag, meet me in the Departure Cavern, okay?" 

I turned my head to the side in confusion. 

"You're really doing this for me?" 

Alice nodded and smiled, and I smiled back. "Thank you." 

I made my way past the partying crowd that had spilled into the Main Cavern and into the quiet of the Departure Cavern. Several minutes later Alice came back with my bag, having slung it over her shoulder. I took it from her, shouldered it and pulled her into a grateful hug. 

"Thank you." 

With that I tapped my fist against the right crack, and I was off home. 

Unsurprisingly Jack wasn't at the lake yet, he probably had Guardian stuff to deal with, so I headed straight home. 

My house still had lights on, so I knocked on the door instead of sneaking in through the window. It quickly opened to reveal my mother, with bags underneath her eyes and her hair a mess. She took in my presence, her eyes drifting over my armour, my slightly blood stained hoodie, my torn jeans and the medal I'd put back on, and a relived and happy smile appeared on her face. 

"Jackie!" she cried and pulled me into a hug. I managed to get inside with her hugging me and closed the door. 

"Welcome home." She whispered, and a contented smile spread across my face. 

HOG wasn't too happy that I got away from the party, but they had started to understand my point of view on it, so Jason only blasted my ear for quarter of an hour. 

My Branch were just happy to see that I was okay, so they didn't really get on my case.  
>Too much. <p>

Tina did despair slightly at the fact she and Sally went to all that effort to make I came to the ceremony, and I didn't even hang around for the party. Although, all in all, they were pretty understanding.

**And this brings us to the halfway point in this arc! There is a two week time jump, but I do have a one shot that fits in between the two halves of the arc. The reason it's not an actual chapter is because it doesn't really play a part in the overall story, it just shows that Jackie didn't get out of this completely okay.**

**I'll be uploading that one shot on Saturday, so keep an eye on the HOG Files if you want to read it!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay, warning. This is the chapter that gives this one a higher maturity rating than the original story, it gets bloody. I'm not bothered by it, but I'm not normal, so this is a warning. If you faint or feel ill, then don't say that you weren't warned.**

**I doubt it will be that bad, but I'm pretty desensitised to this sort of thing, so I can't be sure.**

I didn't hear much from the HOG Heads for the next couple of weeks. All I got was that they were looking for Lupine Descendants, if there were any.

None of us really had any idea of what we were looking for, so not many of us actually looked, and, surprise surprise, they didn't find anything. 

They were the reason we hadn't declared war, again. We couldn't fight an enemy we couldn't find, since it wasn't just the Descendants of Pitch we up against this time. 

After Halloween my practicing with Jack began again, although now Jack wasn't exactly teaching me much. It was more of a, 'let's mess around with our powers for a bit' session. I didn't really mind that, it was fun to do so, but I couldn't help but feel as though something was off. 

So, an evening in early November rolled around and I was by the lake, waiting for Jack.  
>To pass the time I had formed some ice creatures and made them just play with each other. <p>

"Hey Jackie!" I looked up to see Jack coming in to land. I melted the animals and stood up to greet him. 

"Hey Jack!" 

Jack looked concerned at where the ice animals had been. 

"Didn't North warn you about that?" 

"It's not as if I have them out long, and it's not as if you haven't done it either!" 

"True, but I've only done it a couple of times and never for more than a minute. What  
>you're doing, could end badly." <p>

"Could. We'll never know unless I try." 

Jack shrugged, "Alright, just be careful with them. Icicle." 

I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms. 

"Really? You're going to call me that now as well?" 

"Hey, you call me snowman all the time!" 

"Not all the time." I muttered as he leapt into the air and landed on the top of his  
>staff in the air. <p>

"So, what are we doing tonight?" He asked with a grin. 

In answer I formed a snowball above my open hand. Jack saw it and grinned. 

"You're on." 

Several hours later we lay back on the snow, panting. I was covered in the most snow, but I didn't really care. 

"Hey, Jackie." Said Jack, his voice strangely serious. 

"What?" 

"You know, I haven't had to teach you anything lately, and I can't really think of anything to teach you." 

I could see where this was going, but I stayed quiet, just in case I was wrong. 

"I was thinking that, maybe, I should stop teaching you." 

"No!" I cried, "There's still some things..." 

"Can you name anything?" 

I opened my mouth, and shut it again when I realised that I didn't. 

"You've got control down, along with precise ice, frost and snow making. You've got your  
>psychic ice down, I've got nothing to teach." <p>

"What about storms?" I realised. Snow and ice didn't just form from water in the air this far down, a lot of snow came from the clouds, and I knew Jack could control that... 

"No!" 

I jumped from the sudden ferocity in his tone. I levered myself up onto my elbows and looked over to see his face relax. 

"No, making storms is incredibly tiring and dangerous. For a mortal... it's just too dangerous." He was looking up at the clear night sky now, an unreadable expression on his face. 

I frowned, Jack had never made that argument, that I couldn't do something because I was mortal. One part of me wanted to argue with him, I was more powerful than most, I could handle it! 

However, I trusted Jack's judgment of my abilities more than Alfred's; the former had been training me for longer and more often. 

Therefore, I trusted Jack when he said that it wasn't a good idea. That didn't mean that I liked it though. 

"But I don't want this to stop. You're a really good friend and-" 

"Hey, who said anything about not being friends?" asked Jack sitting back up. "And anyway, I often come back here. You're not getting rid of me that easily, just because I have nothing left to teach you." 

I lay back down and looked up the moon, feeling a little sad. "But I won't be seeing as much of you." I hated how whiny my voice sounded. 

"Well, it's not as if you're going to be alone. And like I said, I'll be back often." 

"Hmm." I went and looked at the time. It wasn't that late, but I wasn't sure I wanted to hang around much longer. 

"Ah, I suppose I'd better head back." I said, standing up. 

"Already?" 

"Hey, time flies when you're having fun. Will you be here tomorrow?" 

"Yep." 

I smiled and raised my hand. "See you tomorrow then." 

I walked away from the lake, brushing the snow of my t shirt and trying not to dwell on the conversation as I pulled on my hoodie. I hadn't needed it to keep out the cold, I wore it because it was a Christmas present from Jack. 

I took the scenic route to get home, walking through the snow covered woods. It never held any fear for me these days, if anything, the snow covered woods at night were beautiful in my opinion. Although right now, I couldn't put my finger on it, but I was strangely tense. 

A twig cracked behind me I spun around, my breathing catching in my throat. 

"Hello?" I called, trying to rationalise it. Must be one of the kids, surely. 

To my left I saw glowing eyes peering out of the gloom. I turned to face it, only to have it disappear. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another set of glowing yellow eyes, but they disappeared again as I faced them. 

I got the strangest sense of déjà vu; where had I seen those eyes before? 

"Okay, this is isn't funny. Come on out!" I called, trying to sound braver than I was feeling. 

In answer someone stepped out of the gloom in front of me. 

A tall, muscular man with black, messy hair approached. His face lean, almost wolf like, but the feature that thrust that home was the eyes. They were bright yellow. 

All around me similar looking people stepped out of the shadows, an even mix of male and female ranging from about ten to mid twenties. All lean or muscular, all with the black hair and wolfish face shape. All with the same colour eyes. 

"Who are you?" I asked, standing my ground. The first one stepped forward, clearly the leader. 

The leader looked back and around at the other nine, as if it were obvious. 

"We are the Descendants of Lupine." 

My heart thudded in my chest and I resisted the urge to swallow. Oh boy. 

"Okay, seems like I got the jack pot with you guys then. There's what, ten of you here?"  
>I said, trying to not sound afraid. <p>

"Yes, and the only ten you'll meet." 

"You've brought out your whole force for me? I'm flattered." 

Something seemed to amuse him for a second, then his face returned to being neutral as he spoke. "Lupine approached us a few months ago and explained our heritage. He also spoke of someone, a Descendant of Jack Frost who humiliated him." 

"I wouldn't go that far, there weren't many people around at that point." 

"It still counts with him." He said with a shrug, as if he wasn't all that bothered. 

"So, are, you here to make me pay, or something?" 

"Yep." 

In about a second I was in a defensive stance, with my blades at the ready. However my stance relaxed as I watched leader in shock. 

His whole body seemed to be shaking, dark fur burst from his clothes and across his face. A loud cracking noise filled the air as his skeleton changed, forcing him on his hands and knees. 

I started backing off as his face changed, a muzzle pushing out and blood dripped down his chin as new teeth seemed to push through. It took seconds, and it looked incredibly painful. 

I felt sick as he finished changing, his humanity having completely disappeared. Cracks and growls from behind me told me that the others changed, and within seconds I was surrounded by dark furred wolves. 

I regained my stance and used the surrounding snow to gauge their movements. I ducked as one left the ground and I stuck up my blades, catching their stomach as they soared overhead and yelped. 

Another charged and I side stepped just far enough for it to just miss, holding out my blades to catch its side. 

All at once they charged at me, and I used the snow to propel myself into the air. I hadn't really thought about where I was going, so went straight up, and straight back down again, landing in amongst a furry mob and I no longer had the room to move. 

I used the ice to shove some of them away, but one got past my senses by clambering over the others, and it clamped down on my right shoulder. 

I screamed in pain as I felt blood leak from the wound. The wolf/human shook their head, tearing at the skin and muscle. 

I reached around and clamped my left hand on their muzzle, freezing the fur and causing them to pull away, rubbing their muzzle with their paw. 

I staggered away, feeling warm blood soaking into the hoodie and running down my shoulder  
>as my eyes stung with tears of pain. Another got me while I was distracted and clamped down on my left leg. <p>

I yelled again and sent an ice blast towards them with a backwards fling of my hand; several others got caught in the blast and were sent flying backwards. Some hit their heads against the trees with thuds and didn't get up. 

I lifted my bad leg up to take pressure off it, feeling blood dripping down my ankle. I wrapped the snow around my standing ankle and used to spin in a circle, sending ice blasts out all around me horizontally. 

Some of the blasts turned into spikes and stabbed a couple of them, causing them to yelp in pain and stagger away only to be met with more spikes from the snow below. After this only one was still standing, it didn't look great, with patches of blood staining parts of its fur. It snarled and charged, its mouth gaping open and saliva dripping off its fangs. 

I couldn't really move anymore, and I was wobbling slightly from having to stand on one leg. So I waited until it was right on top of me, then shoved a small stick of ice in its mouth, forcing it to stay open. 

It yelped in surprise and backed off, trying to force the shaft of ice out with its paw and by shaking its head as I hopped backwards to recover my balance. I could see shadows snaking towards its mouth to get rid of the ice, so I made the snow turn to ice and trapped the wolf's paws before it could do so. Distracting it and preventing it from moving for the time being. Without even looking at the others I did the same thing to them. 

I built the ice up to hopefully prevent them from using the shadow powers to get free, but I stopped before I got to their heads. There was no way I was going to do that again.  
>With that done I staggered and nearly fell over in the snow, my leg almost yelping when I lowered and put weight on it. The entire area around me was dyed bright red with blood, although it was impossible to tell whose blood was whose. <p>

I touched my shoulder painfully and sent a film of ice over it, holding the blood in. I did the same to the leg and stood up straight, ignoring my now bright red sock. 

"That's why I managed to beat Lupine, I don't suggest you try again." I said to the downed wolves, who growled weakly in response.


	17. Chapter 17

With that I formed an ice bridge and zoomed away, letting it melt behind me. My injuries hurt like hell and I sucked air through my teeth from the pain as I moved. I really hoped my Branch could deal with this, I did not want to end up in hospital. Alec and Nigel did a good job with my arm a few years ago, maybe they could handle this.

"JACKIE!" 

I looked up to see Jack flying towards me, a terrified look on his face. 

"You finally decided to show up snowman." I said dryly as I stopped and he hovered beside me. 

"I heard you scream." 

"I got attacked, it's taken care of." 

Jack looked at me, his expression a mixture of concern and confusion. I saw his eyes drift over to my blood stained shoulder and widen. 

"What happened?" 

"Turns out Lupine has Descendants, and they can shape shift." 

"I-I'd, better get you home." 

"You don't have to, I can get myself back." 

"And have you possibly collapse? I know the cold can't hurt you, but what if they find you again?" 

Jack had a good point, but I was still reluctant to let him take me home. He seemed to notice this and asked. 

"Is this because I said I couldn't teach you anything else?" 

I opened my mouth to deny it, then closed it again. It was true, I was still upset about the lesson thing. However, it wasn't as if he was no longer my friend, so I needed to get over myself. 

"Sorry, if you're really concerned then..." 

Jack looked me up and down and the grin I knew so well crossed his face. 

"At least I won't have to hold you up this time." 

I snorted with laughter and set off again, Jack flying alongside me. 

I quickly found that I couldn't move my bad leg, so I let my mind take over as I skated over the trees. I tried to think of a plan. The most logical place to go now would be the HOG war base; they'd been looking for these guys, so they'd want to know. But I didn't want to, right now I was tired and in pain, plus Jack would cause more of a stir than I could handle. I just wanted to go home, I could ring HOG. 

I landed at the front door, staggering slightly and leaning against the wall; I must have lost more blood than I thought. Jack caught me but I managed to right myself before he could get too worried. 

"Okay, I'm home. You've probably got Guardian stuff to do..." I prompted, to which his shoulders slumped. 

"Fine fine, see you later. Don't do anything too dangerous without me!" 

We shared grins and he took to the air with a gust of wind. 

I unlocked the door and slowly walked in, heading for the kitchen and leaning on the wall for support. I managed to get some yogurt out of the fridge and sat down heavily at the table, eating slowly. 

My dad walked in, initially with a smile, which faded as he saw my shoulder. 

"What happened?" Naturally he sounded worried, but he saw that I wasn't freaking out, so managed not to freak out himself. 

"Descendants of Lupine, turns out they're angry that I beat their ancestor, so they decided to take it out on me." I explained in monotone so I didn't let on how much pain I was in. 

"A human caused those injuries?" 

"Turns out they're all shape shifters. About ten of them turned into wolves and attacked." 

"We need to get someone to see to that." He said concerned. He pulled out a chair and settled down in it, not taking his eyes off me. 

"What, a doctor? You've never taken me to the doctor in my life, you've never needed to. Plus, my body temperature's just too weird, it'll attract attention." 

"This is serious, you need medical help, your body temperature be dammed." 

"I know, but I don't want to risk it." 

"Maybe we have to." 

I shook my head. 

"I know someone else who might be able to help with this." I said, pulling out my phone. 

"Your friends from HOG?" 

"Who else? Remember my arm a few years ago?" 

Dad nodded, his reading glasses bouncing slightly on his forehead. "Not sure I can forget. Go on." 

I nodded, recognising that permission had been given, scrolled down to Nigel's number and pressed call. 

"Jackie, what's the occasion?" 

"Something's happened, and I need you or your brother's stitching ability." 

"What happened?" 

"Descendants of Lupine." 

"You found them!?" 

"More they found me, and they're not happy that I managed to take out Lupine." 

I could hear Nigel wince. 

"Okay, I'll call Alec and HOG, in that order. You just sit tight, where are you?" 

"At home, the Descendants of Lupine are in the woods. I trapped them in the snow so I doubt that they've moved." 

"Alright, I'll get the others over. Try not to move too much, okay?" 

"Wasn't planning on it." 

"See you later." 

He hung up and put my phone back into my pocket. 

"So, I take it we're having company?" 

"Yep, sounds like my Branch and Nigel's brother are coming. Alec was the one who did my arm last time." 

Dad nodded, "Okay, you just stay there and don't move too much until they get here." 

"Noted." 

Tina, Billy and Sally arrived first. They all went into the kitchen and winced as one. 

"What happened? It looks like you were being ripped apart!" cried Tina. 

"Turns out Descendants of Lupine can shape shift." 

"Aw crikey." Winced Billy, "That must have hurt." 

"You should see my leg, that's not much better." My jeans had been destroyed, again. 

"I'd hate to see the other guy." 

I had to grin as Sally sat next to me and put her hand on my uninjured arm. "How are you feeling?" 

"Better than when they were being inflicted." 

"You gotta tell us what happened!" cried Billy, bounding over. "How many were there? How much of a badass were you being?" 

"I think we'd better wait for Nigel and Alec, they'll want to hear that story too." 

Billy grumbled and sat down in a chair with his arms folded. He looked so much like he was sulking that it was hard to believe that he was thirty. 

Tina looked like she wanted to say something to Billy, but for my sake she decided to keep it to herself. 

We talked for a bit until Nigel and Alec arrived. They both had the same expressions of shock when they saw my shoulder. 

My hoodie hadn't taken any damage, it was practically indestructible, but it was still stained dark with a lot of blood. I had to pull it off to let Alec do his thing and it got more than a little stuck on the ragged bite mark. 

Alec got to work after setting some newspaper on the floor. I used copious amounts of ice to try and numb my shoulder as he stitched, which only just worked. The others quickly left and I tried to not focus on the needle going in and out of skin, instead telling Alec what happened, so he could relay it to the others. 

After making sure that both injuries were shut, Alec forcefully told me to go to bed, which I did. I was tired after the fight, so sleep was very appealing. 

Before the others left, Sally sat next to my bed and sent some golden sand above my head.  
>She couldn't form dreams, but she could prevent nightmares, so I fell asleep with a smile on my face.<p> 


	18. Chapter 18

CRASH

I sat bolt upright, feeling a flare of pain in my shoulder. I gasped and clutched it, tears of pain pricking my eyes. By the Moon's flaming underpants that hurt! 

Burning underwear aside, it was as black as night, so I flicked on my bedside light to see what was going on. My room was as clean as always, with books and clothes stored away as they should be, and the various knick knacks I'd gained over the years were still on my window sill and shelf above my desk. To the left of the room the two half carved blocks of ice were still standing, and the frost surrounding my bed hadn't changed either. 

With my room undisturbed, it meant the crash had come from somewhere else. 

I started to get out of bed, although I quickly found that my leg was still wobbly and more than a little painful. I sucked in air through my teeth in pain and formed a cane from ice to hobble towards the stairs. From there I heard scared whimpers from downstairs. Very human whimpers. Light spilled out from the living room, so that was going to be my first port of call. 

I started to go carefully downstairs, avoiding all the parts that creaked. 

I reached the bottom and peered around the door into the living room. What I saw in there made me tense with anger. 

The Descendant of Lupine leader was there, looking a little worse for wear. His clothes were ripped from the transformation earlier and there were open wounds on his arms. 

Around him were other Descendants of Lupine, about four of them, all in wolf form and also with various injuries. Up against the wall were my parents, each having a Lupine Descendant guarding them. 

My parents looked unhurt, however my dad did have a cracked glasses lens. Both of their faces were pale and I could see that they holding each other's hands. 

Anger built inside me, they had just overstepped a line. They do not mess with my family. 

I carefully stepped into the doorway, formed a snowball and threw it at the leaders head. 

He flinched and turned around to see me leaning against the doorway, another snowball hovering in my free hand and scowl on my face. 

"Get. Away. From them." I practically snarled. 

"What's the matter? Afraid they'll get hurt?" 

On cue one wolf by my mum opened its mouth by her leg. Something about seeing those fangs sent a combined bolt of anger and fear through my stomach and I changed the snowball into an ice shard, sending it at its eye with a fling of my hand. It jumped away from my mother away with a yelp, paw over the now probably injured eye. 

I immediately felt bad, but I shoved it aside as I turned to the leader. Now was not time for feeling sorry for these guys. 

"Clearly there are things you are yet to understand. Even the Descendants of Pitch didn't go this far. You do not involve non Descendants if you can help it." 

"They are related to you. Surely they count as Descendants!" 

"I'm going to explain this simply, since you're obviously new to this. Only those with abilities that are associated with their ancestor are considered Descendants. You just crossed an invisible line." 

"Doesn't matter, we have you where we want you." 

"I thought you wanted me dead, or was that just a warm up earlier?" 

"You're injured, and we have your family hostage. Five of my fellow Descendants are patrolling outside." The leader looked pretty smug. 

"Seems like the perfect time for a conversation." I stopped leaning against the wall and stood up as straight as my cane would allow. 

"However, it seems that my reputation hasn't reached you." I said, my gaze narrowing slightly. 

"You defeated Lu-" 

"No! There's more to it!"I said loudly, with slightly more force than I had intended. 

"I am officially the most powerful Descendant of Jack Frost, such power comes with some repercussions. When I was seven I killed my brother in a moment of panic. In a moment of anger I killed six Descendants of Pitch, and in a moment of grief induced rage, I froze two hundred of them solid." 

I looked at the leader straight in the eyes. "You don't want to get in my way." 

His yellow eyes betrayed his fear, while the rest of his face remained stoic. 

"Leave now, before I do something I regret." 

"Big talk from someone who's injured and alone." 

"I don't need to move." 

An ice pillar shot up from next to him causing him to dance away as I focused on an area of spreading frost. His wolves stepped back with their ears flattened as an ice tiger formed in front of me. I was getting a lot quicker at drawing these and bringing them to life, it had only taken a brief moment of concentration that time. 

"Now, GET OUT!" I yelled, a series of spikes blocking them from my parents. 

He looked at his wolves, who looked like they wanted nothing better. He looked back in my direction, looking surprisingly calm still. 

"Sorry, I'm not falling for cheap intimidation." 

My tiger grew in size and roared, then lunged at one of wolves and picked it up in its jaws. The wolf yelped in fear and scrabbled at the sides of the tiger's mouth, not even leaving a scratch in the ice. 

"Cheap intimidation, you say?" 

He glared in my direction. "Fine, we're leaving." 

He exited through the open window and I made the tiger drop the wolf, allowing it run after its pack mates. 

I made the ice tiger disappear as I hobbled over to the window and slammed it shut. The other pieces of ice detached themselves from the floor, condensed into a column and I sent them up the disused chimney. After clearing the chimney I let it fall to the ground outside. The tiger had melted when I made it disappear, the water falling into an ice bucket, which also went up the chimney. 

My parents looked at me with a mixed look of fear and amazement on their faces. 

"That's what you've been learning?" asked my mum, shock and disbelief in her voice. 

"More or less, although Jack didn't teach me the tiger thing." 

I hobbled over to them and pulled them into a hug, not wanting to know exactly how afraid I'd been for them. 

"Are you two okay?" 

"We're fine, just startled." 

"I'd think you'd be more than startled after an encounter like that." I said, pulling back. 

I glanced at the window, where even from here I could see the paw prints. 

"They're not going to give up any time soon." I said, more to myself, but my parents still heard. 

"Well, what can we do about it?" 

"Personally, I can't stay. We can't have an incident like just now. You two keep all windows and doors locked." 

It was strange ordering my parents around, but neither of them seemed to be able to really do much on their own right now. 

"Where are you going to go?" Asked my dad. 

"I'll follow the Descendants of Lupine from above. HOG's been looking for them, and they'll never expect me to get so close after this." 

I hobbled up the stairs and got back to my room. I got dressed and packed, using the hiking backpack mum gave me last time. I didn't bother emptying it, I didn't want to waste time. 

I strapped on my armour with some difficulty from the pain and shouldered the bag, which contained food for the road, some bandages, plasters and painkillers. The medal still hung on my chest plate and I took it off before I left. It would just get in the way, and I still had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it was an honour and reminded me of what HOG meant to me, but the other, it was a reminder of the spotlight and how much I hated it. 

I felt my fist clench around it as what just happened sank in. They went for my parents.  
>My parents. <p>

I sat down heavily on the bed with my bag clunking on my back. Oh god they went for my parents. 

I bent my head and pinched the bridge of my nose, breathing through it. 

_Calm down. They're fine, chances are it won't happen again, that's why you're going after them, right?_

I nodded to myself and breathed in heavily. They'll be fine, but I needed to get going. 

I looked up and my eyes landed on a little, brown, frost covered cardboard box. 

It was sitting on the top of my shelf, a little off to the side, out of the way. It was no bigger than a jewellery box. 

I knew I shouldn't, I was worked up enough as it was, and the longer I waited the further away the Descendants of Lupine got, but I needed to see it. Just once before I went. I hadn't looked at it in too long. 

I got up, placing the medal on my desk and reached up to grab the flimsy box. 

I held it in my hand, just standing there, until I carefully pried it open, trying not to rip the material. 

Inside was a paper and string necklace. Dark blue painted paper beads were strung along the string, with the pendant also made of paper, in the shape of a snowflake. The flimsy paper was stiff with frost and the cotton wool bed had a slightly lighter coating. 

I got for my seventh birthday, from my brother. 

He'd wanted to get a proper necklace, but at the same time he wanted it to be a surprise to my parents as well, so he compromised. He was four at the time. 

I'd never worn it, too scared that I'd break it, and I'd never get it over my head now anyway. 

I remembered when he gave to me, that massive grin he was wearing. He was gone now, and I had to protect what I had left. 

I closed the lid and put it beside the medal. This mission might just be suicide in my condition, but I didn't care. I was coming back for this. 

I walked past my parents as they went back to bed, gave them a hug, and disappeared through the front door after the Descendants of Lupine.


	19. Chapter 19

**Well, I'm an idiot, really wasn't with it yesterday, so update today. Sorry.**

**Thanks to chloe. mcphail .94 for following and favouriting, and thanks to Weird Annoying Chick for favouriting. I have a feeling that you did a while ago and I didn't notice for some reason. So, here we go!**

It didn't take me long to catch up from the air. In fact they'd made easy for me, they'd set up camp.

We were still in the Burgess woods, completely surrounded by trees.

All of them were in human form, so I slid in as close as I dared and settled in a tree, listening to their conversation. Looking at their camp I felt a small amount of grim satisfaction and a little guilt when I saw that one of them was now wearing an eye patch.

"So, now what?" asked one.

"We're not going to be able to get her that way." Said another.

"We'll think of something." Snarled the leader, "There must be something."

A couple of the others looked at each other and I heard them whispering.

"Why are we doing this again?"

"Because Lupine got beat."

"That's his problem. Why are we going after someone who can kick our arses any day of the week?"

"Like Pete said, we can take her, we just need a way to find her weakness."

"But why? We've been moving around so much because other people are looking for us. We're just attracting attention."

"Lupine himself asked us to do this."

"More like commanded."

"Look, if you want to challenge Pete, then be my guest, but while he's leader, we're hunting the Descendant of Frost."

Oh how much I'd love to see their faces if they knew I was just meters away.

"Even though we're moving away from her house?"

"I'm sure it's just a... temporary retreat."

"Sure it is."

I struggled not to smirk at the obvious sarcasm as the conversation ended. It was interesting to hear dissent in the ranks, glad to know there was a chance that someone wouldn't go all out if it came to it.

I settled on the branch, trying to not set off my still painful injuries. I made a loop of ice and tied it to the tree trunk, just in case I fell asleep.

As the camp settled down for the night I took some of my painkillers. This was quickly realised as a mistake, as it was the kind that made you drowsy.

I must have picked up the wrong ones.

I tried to stay awake, but quickly realised there was no fighting it, so my head lolled into my chest as I fell into a (thankfully) dreamless sleep.

I woke up as the sun came up. I looked over at the camp and almost fell out of the tree. They were gone.

I melted the strand and jumped from the tree, a bridge forming below me, the painkillers still in enough effect that my leg didn't complain when I landed. I took it up above the canopy, trying to spot the pack from on high.

In the distance I could see fast moving black splodges against the white snow, which glared back the sunlight. With my targets sighted I flew forward, keeping far enough behind that they wouldn't know I was there.

We exited the woods and sped across the countryside. As we went I saw the town of Tanglewood in the distance, Billy's home town.

I didn't feel tempted to go get him, I might lose the Descendants of Lupine. Not to mention he'd want to know what I was doing and I really didn't feel like explaining. Heck, he might even make me go home with these injuries.

Another night came, and they'd settled down in a field, and I had to hide in the tree in the centre of the field. However this time I got a surprise.

I could feel the ground below me shifting under the snow. Keeping one eye on the pack I moved the snow to see what was being said.

"Keep watching Jackie. We're following underground."

Curious, I began to form my own message. I changed some of the snow to ice, then formed the message by forming the letters with my fingers in the air.

"Why? And who's we?"

Another message formed.

"Descendants of Bunnymund. If they find you they'll be distracted from us, plus you can listen in on the conversation."

I frowned but didn't reply. Had Billy seen me? Or had the Descendants of Bunnymund already been tracking them? It didn't really matter anyway, I wasn't overhearing a lot.  
>All I knew right now was that they seemed to be travelling. Where to and why were beyond me.<p>

Another day of travelling and I was hunkered down in another tree in small copse. We were in the middle of nowhere this time, with a series of hills bordering the trees. The woods here seemed to be of a different breed than the one in Burgess. Here barely a chink of moonlight got through the trees, and I got the distinct feeling that I wasn't welcome.  
>The only reason I could see the camp was because they'd made a camp fire, which really didn't help. I only just kept them in sight, not wanting to be anywhere near the flames.<p>

I hadn't taken any painkillers this time, so my leg was burning from crouching in a tree.  
>I didn't dare move just in case I was heard, so I just tried to ignore the pain. It didn't help that my shoulder was throbbing, but it wasn't as bad as the leg.<p>

Below me I could feel the ground shift under the snow and I looked down to see what the message was this time, but it wasn't a message at all. Out of the ground and leaving a small pile of snow and earth in his wake appeared a Descendant of Bunnymund, moving silently.

The dots connecting in my head I moved the snow it indicate my presence, then pressed my fingers to my lips and pointed towards the camp as he looked up.

He nodded and crept forward towards the camp, his feet barely making any noise in the snow as I held it in place. I could feel other disturbances in the snow as more  
>Descendants of Bunnymund popped out and I extended my power to the rest of the clearing, hardening the snow to the point where hardly any sound was produced.<p>

I wasn't entirely sure what they were doing, so I didn't leave the tree. I just watched, and waited.

Once the Descendants of Bunnymund were in position they caused the earth surrounding the camp rose up to form walls, essentially trapping the Descendants of Lupine. They all cried out in panic as the earth towered over them, making them disappear from my line of sight.

The Descendants of Bunnymund leapt over the earth barrier and into the camp, I couldn't see what was going on, but various snarls and shouts reached me. Suddenly the earth seemed to curve around them, covering them. There was a rumbling noise as the area of earth sank into the ground, taking both sets of Descendants with it. I watched in awe as very quickly, all that was left was a bare patch of ground.

Slightly in shock from what just happened, I slowly got myself down from the tree slowly, trying not to wince at the pain in my shoulder and leg.

As I got to the ground, the centre of the bare patch opened up and the Descendant of Bunnymund who saw me earlier popped out. He had light brown hair, bright green eyes and he was wearing dark green armour, minus the helmet.

"Miss Davies, as glad as I am for your help I must ask, what are you doing here?"

"I was keeping an eye on the Descendants of Lupine, figuring you'd want to know where they were. Although turns out I needn't have bothered." I was a little surprised by the formality, but I managed to recover myself to answer.

"You're reported injured, shouldn't you be at home?" His green eyes narrowed in concern.

"They broke into my home and held my parents hostage. That's also partially why I'm out  
>here."<p>

His shoulders went down slightly as he sighed.

"Well, you're out here now, and I know the Heads want more information on the incident today. So, are going to come with me?"

"Might as well, since you didn't try and force me."

"I'm not up to chasing you across the forest. I know what happens when you're forced into something." He said with a small grin and I cringed internally, so that thing with Tina and Sally had gotten around.

"You make me sound like a spoiled child." I said, walking over, after forming an ice cane to support my leg.

"Sometimes we wonder. We know you've got your way of doing things, which isn't always what the Head's want."

"I don't always like their decisions." I said as I reached him, now having to look up to talk to him. Like every Descendant of Bunnymund, he was almost impossibly tall.

"They have a lot on their plate, naturally their decisions aren't going to please everyone."

I shrugged and I began skating down the Tunnel he'd just formed, passing him quickly.

"I never got your name!" I called as he bounded past me to lead the way.

"It's David!" He called back.

We quickly came out in an area I didn't recognise. The walls were bare rock and there were pillars of earth close together. On the other side of the pillars were the Descendants of Lupine and then I realised, they weren't pillars, they were bars.

"I've never been in here before." I commented, looking around.

"Newly built. We weren't sure how the Descendants of Lupine were going to react, although after the attack on you yesterday evening, we made plans to get them here."

For the first time David seemed to notice I was in my armour.

"Wow, haven't seen you up close in your armour before!"

"Well, it's not as if I need to wear it much."

"Is it true that the metal is colder than normal to match your body temperature?"

"Yes." I was on the verge of backing away from his fan boying.

"Didn't it take a direct hit from Lupine and came out unscathed?"

"Yes, but it was a glancing blow."

David finally saw how uncomfortable I was getting from his questions and practically jumped back.

"Ah! Sorry! T-The Heads are going to want to see you!"

"Lead the way, I don't think I'll be able to find my way out of here."

I was lead away from the pillars and round a corner. David tapped his fist against the wall and it collapsed, allowing us to go through the Tunnel.

We sped up it and into the Departure Cavern. My leg was giving me issues, so we went slower than I would have liked.

There were a few people milling around in the Main Cavern. Their eyes were drawn to us as  
>we exited the Departure Cavern and I could feel the excitement building. Whenever I was around something was interesting was happening.<p>

I hobbled as quickly as I could up the ridge to the Council Chamber, even the Heads were going to be better than this.

David opened the door and when I looked in I found that the room had been repaired after last time, to my relief. The table and chairs were back in place, the floor had been cleared of black sand and the Heads were sitting in their normal places at the far end of the table. Strangely no one was sitting at the head of the table.

I sat down in my normal spot about halfway down and David stood next to me for a second, before being asked to sit by Alfred.

"So, Davies." Said Jason, "Would you please tell us what you know about the Descendants of Lupine? The explanation I got from Burgess Branch was very brief."

"Well, the main reason they attacked is because Lupine is still angry at the fact I beat him in a fight, so he got his Descendants to try. They appear to number ten, all have shape shifting abilities and not all of them actually want to do this. I know of one who was unhappy about what was going on, although I don't think I'd be able to point them out."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Is that all? It doesn't explain why you're out and about at 3AM in full armour."

"They tried to hold my parents hostage." That one sentence drew a gasp from anyone, not even the Descendants of Pitch had resorted to such a tactic.

"I didn't think anyone would stoop to such lengths." Muttered Claire, "How much did you manage to anger him?"

"Hard to say with all the snarling he was doing. You were there!"

The Heads looked at each and seemed to come to some kind of silent agreement.

"Jackie." Said Jason, "We'll deal with the Descendants here, but do be careful, not much is known about Lupine, and we have no idea what he may do next."

"So, am I staying here or going home?"

"I think home would be the best option, you are injured after all. We will have people keeping an eye on Burgess though, just in case."

I nodded, this was the best I was going to get, and I didn't want to get more involved with the Descendants of Lupine than I already had.

I stood up, and turned to leave as Alfred called after me.

"Jackie!"

I turned around slowly.

"Try and stay out of trouble, okay?"

"I'll try."

With that I bid them a good night and went home.

**You could say that that was anti-climatic, but we aren't done with these guys, not even close.**


	20. Chapter 20

I was running. 

The sound of my breathing was loud in my ears, almost but not quite masking the crackling of flames and the snarling. 

I stopped to catch my breath on top of a hill, looking at the burning forest behind me as my heart pounded. The flames seemed to jump over my head and set the trees that heralded my escape alight. 

Dark, canine shadows appeared in the flames and I went into all out panic. I was going to die, right here, right now. 

I spun, trying to keep all of the approaching shadow wolves in sight, but it was impossible. There were just too many. 

A wolf from behind jumped onto my back, forcing me to the ground with a cry and I could feel its hot breath on my neck. Pain flared up in my shoulder and leg and I screamed. 

I woke to a rendition 'Let it Go' and lay there, panting and scanning the room as the nightmare lost its grip. 

I was fine, there was no fire, no shadowy wolves. I was alive. I'd managed to sleep late, morning light shining through the curtains; I guess I deserved a lie in after last night.  
>My parents had barely let me out of their sight until I fell asleep when I got back.<br>Couldn't really blame them though. 

I groaned and rolled into a sitting position as the song cut off, signalling that whoever had been trying to call me had given up. 

My right shoulder was sore and stiff, so I reached over with my left hand to grab my phone, seeing that I had a text and a missed call. 

The text was from Jason, apparently there had been wolves seen in Burgess after I'd gotten home, but it had been difficult to tell what they had been doing. I didn't see why he was telling me, there were only ten Descendants of Lupine, right? It's not as if there weren't wild wolves in America. 

The call was from Jamie's mum. 

_"Jackie! Thank goodness! When you didn't pick up I-!"_

"Mrs Bennett, calm down. What happened?" I asked calmly, calmer than I would normally sound after just coming out of a nightmare. 

Mrs Bennett took a deep breath before talking again. 

_"Jackie, have you seen Jamie?"_

"Not for a few days, I've been out of town the last couple of days." I replied, not really lying. "Why?" 

_"He's not in the house, and his room's a mess."_

"Isn't it usually a mess?" 

_"Messier than usual. I haven't called the police yet, but he's not answering his phone..."_

That got my attention. 

"Seriously?" I asked, sitting up straighter on my bed and wincing slightly from my shoulder. 

"_Yes, sorry, I'd thought you'd know where he was."_

"I'll give him a call now and if he doesn't answer I'll be right over." A suspicion formed in my head, but I hoped that I was wrong. 

"_Alright, I hope you have better luck than me."_

Mrs Bennett hung up and I scrolled through my phone's contacts, finding Jamie's number and hitting call. 

The phone rang, and rang, and rang, until. 

"_Sorry, the person you are calling is unavailable, please a message after the tone."_

I hung up and tried again. Same result. 

I felt dread bubble up in my stomach. Please not Jamie, please let him be with Jack and just can't hear his phone. Please let that be the case. Please let my worry just be an aftermath of the nightmare 

I got dressed in record time, with a now blood free hoodie, fresh jeans and headed straight for the Bennett residence. The door opened before I'd even had a chance to ring the doorbell. 

Mrs Bennett didn't look so good. There were shadows under her eyes and her usually neatly bunned hair was loose and frayed. 

"Any luck?" She asked hopefully, either ignoring or not noticing that I'd borrowed a walking stick from my parents. She didn't know about my powers, and I had no intention of telling her. 

I shook my head. "I'm sorry." 

Her shoulders slumped. "I've called all his friends and they said that they hadn't seen him either. I'd better call the police." 

"Hey, while you do that, can I look at Jamie's room?" 

Mrs Bennett frowned in confusion. "Yes, but why-?" 

"Curiosity." I said. 

Her expression didn't change but she stepped back to let me in. "Alright, but don't touch anything. The police may want to look in there." 

"Okay, thank you." I said as I passed, and that's when she noticed the walking stick. 

"What happened to you?" 

"Training injury." I lied before waving away her concern. "I'm fine, really." 

"Okay, but if you need help up the stairs..." 

"Thanks, but I'll be fine." 

As I walked over to the stairs I was suddenly bowled over by a charging six year old with a mop of blonde hair. 

"Jackie!" cried Sophie, barrelling straight into my bad leg with Abby barking behind her.  
>Seeing the aging greyhound suddenly made me freeze up, images of snarling black wolves filling my mind. Sophie's giggling managed to dislodge the images, but they stayed in the back of my mind, out of the way for now. <p>

"Hey Sophie, how you doing?" I asked, trying to ignore the pain she had unknowingly inflicted. 

Sophie looked up with her bright green eyes and grinned. "Great! You wanna play?" 

"Not today Sophie, there's something I need to see." 

Her face fell, then lit up again. "Play later?" 

"I'll try, but no promises." I said, but Sophie didn't seem to hear that last part as she ran off giggling. 

Abbey gave me a look before bounding as fast as she could after Sophie. Abbey didn't seem to like me, in fact most dogs don't, so Abbey's indifference didn't really bother me.  
>While Mrs Bennett rang the police I made my way up the stairs to Jamie's room. It hadn't changed much since I'd first seen it. The only difference was the larger pile of school stuff in the corner, adding to the clutter. <p>

However today it was like a tornado had a party in it. 

The bed covers were on the floor, various toys had been knocked off their shelves, along with Jamie's gundam robot and his old stuffed rabbit. His old alarm clock had been knocked off the bedside table and the figurines there had also been knocked over. The windows were wide open and the curtains had been thrown apart. The glass in the windows was cracked in some of the panes and outright shattered in one, with shards of glass on the floor. 

It honestly surprised me that Mrs Bennett had waited this long to call the police. 

I walked cautiously through the clutter, looking for anything black. I hoped not find anything, but there was something. I wasn't completely sure what, but out of two options, one was more likely than the other. 

When I found it what made me tense to shock was the fact that it wasn't black sand, which I thought would be more likely. 

As bold as brass on Jamie's desk was black fur, contrasting with the open book it was lying on. 

There's no way it could be Abby's fur, as Abby was brown and white and had shorter fur. So there were more Descendants of Lupine, great, just great. Jason's text made more sense now. 

I tilted my head to the side, trying to work out a good way to collect the fur. I didn't want the police to find this, nor did I want my fingerprints on the book. If the police got involved then things would only get more complicated. The presence of the fur made it a Descendant problem, and as I'd tried to explain to the Descendants of Lupine, you don't get non Descendants involved. 

I surrounded the fur in ice and put it in my pocket before scouring the room for more fur. Finding no more black fur I left the room, beginning the slightly painful descent. 

Mrs Bennett was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. 

"Did you find anything?" 

I had to lie. "Sorry, no." 

She almost seemed to deflate, as if hoping that I'd found some hidden clue that she'd missed. I had, but she couldn't know that. 

"Well, let me know if you hear anything." 

I nodded, "Will do." 

I started to walk past when I saw her eyes glistening. She must have been putting on a brave front for me and Sophie, but now she seemed close to breaking down. 

"Mrs Bennett?" 

"I'm alright Jackie." 

I swallowed nervously. I needed to be on my way, but I knew Mrs Bennett, I saw her as a friend, and her son had just gone missing. I knew in theory what I should do, but doing it was suddenly very difficult. 

"I-if you need to let it out, then..." Forget what I said earlier, I had no idea how to handle this. 

"Thank you." Mrs Bennett choked and I could see tears beginning to fall behind her glasses. 

I hesitated, bracing myself, then awkwardly placed an arm around her shoulders. She and I were about the same height now. 

"He'll be okay. Jamie's a tough little guy." 

"I know, but I dread to think..." 

I rubbed her shoulder, trying to think of something to say. When I did I realised how risky it was, both in practice and just me saying it. 

"I'll get him back." I said softly. 

"Thank you, but I think we'd better let the police handle it." 

"I'm serious. If I find him, I'll get him back." 

"Don't be silly, you're injured and think of your parents." 

"I know, but I can't do nothing while one of my best friends is missing." _And I think I know who did it._

"I know, I feel the same way, but I've got to think of Sophie..." 

"I know, but don't worry. It'll be either me or the police that'll get him back. You'll see." 

Mrs Bennett sighed, accepting my stubbornness. "Thank you Jackie." 

"No problem Mrs Bennett." I retracted my arm and leaned towards the door. "I'd better get going." 

I had no desire to be here when the police arrived. HOG and the police were more often than not like oil and water. There were exceptions I think, but overall, we don't mix. 

"You're going?" 

I looked to the living room door to see Sophie peering around. "Aren't we gonna play?" 

"Not today Sophie. Another day?" 

"But I want to play now." She complained. 

"I know, but I have to go. See you later okay?" 

I gave Mrs Bennett a hopefully supportive smile and left the house.


	21. Chapter 21

**Depending on when this actually goes up, this could actually be late! Sorry, been really busy all day!**

I went to the lake with my anger slowly growing. Once again the Descendants of Lupine had crossed the invisible line and I planned on giving them a piece of my mind. 

The base was quiet, quieter than I expected. Possibly now that the Descendants of Lupine  
>had been captured they were in meetings to discuss what to do now. <p>

Down here I tucked the walking stick under my arm and used ice to propel me at normal walking speed towards where I needed to go. I remembered the entrance to the cavern the Descendants of Lupine were being held, and got stopped by a Descendant of Bunnymund and a Descendant of Sandman in full armour who were guarding the entrance. 

They were guarding a bare patch of wall with a crack in it, the Descendant of Bunnymund on my right and the Descendant of Sandman on my left. 

"What business do you have down here?" Asked the Descendant of Bunnymund, their voice slightly muffled because their visor was down. 

"I need to ask the Descendants of Lupine something." I replied. 

"And what would that be?" 

"Why I found black fur in the bedroom of a teenage boy who has gone missing." 

The pair of them looked at each other, obviously unsure whether to let me pass. 

"Can't this go to the Heads?" 

I hadn't really considered the Heads, but I didn't know how they'd react, or what they'd do. After last time, I was less than keen on getting them involved. 

"I don't want to bother them. It might be nothing." I said, hoping that my words had  
>some kind of truth. <p>

The pair looked at each other again, then the Descendant of Bunnymund tapped the ground three times with their foot. I hadn't seen that before, and no hole opened up, so I had to wonder what the point of that was. 

Within less than a minute another Descendant of Bunnymund, not quite in full armour came running up behind me. Like all Descendants of Bunnymund she was tall and clearly athletic, with red hair tied in a high ponytail and pale blue eyes. Despite her height, she honestly didn't look much older than me. 

"What's up?" She asked in the usual bright Australian accent. 

"Can you escort Miss Davies to the Descendants of Lupine?" asked the Descendant of Bunnymund on duty. 

"Certainly." The woman looked at me brightly. "Come on then." 

She walked past me and the two guards parted for her as she tapped her fist against the bare rock, causing it practically melt under her touch. I walked as quickly as I could behind her, but even on ice I could only just keep up with her. 

"So, what's your name?" I asked as we walked into what seemed like the bowels of the earth. I swear it wasn't this far last night. 

"Hannah." She replied. "And I know who you are. Everyone does." 

"Hmmm." That explained how the other Descendant of Bunnymund knew my surname. 

"Ah, not one for the spotlight, huh?" 

"No." 

"You do know that skipping the celebrations is only going to make people pay more attention don't you?" She asked, a grin in her voice. 

I winced, I hadn't expected people to really notice that much. 

"Well... Ummm." 

"I'm just teasing you Jackie, can I call you Jackie?" 

"Y-yeah, sure." 

"Great! Feel free to call me Hannah, Hans or even 'just shut up!'" 

"Right." I was more than a little taken aback by Hannah's overly friendly nature. She seemed lovely, but it was almost unbearable when I had other things on my mind. 

We had reached the Descendants of Lupine, and they seemed to be mainly asleep. They were all scattered around the cell, some human, some wolf. Seeing the wolves brought some of those images back, but I found them slightly easier to dispel this time. I had a job to do, and I wasn't going to let them see me freaked out. 

The leader, Pete, was awake and sitting against the back wall with his legs crossed and his head leaning against the wall. His gaze narrowed as I walked up, his head coming forward from the wall. 

"What do you want?" He almost growled, more wolf like than human. 

"Why is there black wolf fur in the bedroom of a boy who's gone missing?" I asked, trying to remain calm. 

Pete shrugged. "How should I know? I've been in here all night." 

"What about before you were caught? What were you up to then?" 

"That's my business." 

"If someone's gone missing, then no it isn't." 

A grin spread across Pete's face. "Ah, friend of yours? Boyfriend perhaps?" 

I scowled, strangely irritated by that idea. "That doesn't matter, what matters is if you know where he is." 

Pete leaned back, surprisingly relaxed. "I could tell you. If I feel like it." 

"So you did have something to do with it!" 

"Did I say that? I suppose I hinted at it, but what is that knowledge worth to you?" 

I gritted my teeth, not sure how to continue. 

"Oh, it seems that you don't care about him after all. I suppose I can send the message to kill him." 

Ice spread so quickly from my feet that I barely even realised until they had covered the earthen bars. Hannah took a step back and I heard her gasp, but my gaze was only on the surprisingly cocky leader of the Descendants of Lupine. His breath was misting in front of him as the temperature dropped, but he seemed unfazed by the sudden show of power. 

"Oh, you do care?" Pete looked a little smug. "Then perhaps we could trade, mine and my packs freedom for the boy's?" 

I got my temper under control and the ice retreated. "I don't have that kind of authority." 

Pete snorted. "And here I was told that Descendants of Jack Frost were rule breakers. Looks like I got the only one that behaves, how dull. I thought you were supposed to be volatile troublemakers?" 

"Sorry, I didn't get that memo." I growled, I had my trump card ready in my head, but he was successfully distracting me. 

"Oh really, because everyone else got it." Pete leaned around me slightly, looking at Hannah. "Didn't ya?" 

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, getting more than fed up with how off topic we were. 

Pete's eyes went wide, and to my surprise, her burst out laughing. 

"You really don't know?! Oh, this is gold!" 

"What is so funny?!" I demanded, forgetting my original purpose for a moment. 

"Oh, haha." Pete wiped his eyes. "I shouldn't be surprised that they didn't tell you, didn't want you lot turning their back on them." 

"You're not explaining." I said through gritted teeth. Pete took his time answering, clearing relishing in that power. 

"No one wanted you lot. You're too much trouble. No wonder you were ignored for so long, it's wonder they even let you join." 

My breath caught in my throat and my gaze narrowed as I processed this. I didn't believe it, after four years, I had no reason to believe it. 

"Ah, you don't believe me." Pete noted. "How about this? My group of Descendants knew about each other, even joined up with some other Descendants who aren't part of your little club, without knowing our heritage. So how come you didn't?" 

Pete's grin widened as the shock became apparent on my face. No, that wasn't... 

"No one gave a damn about you lot." Pete insisted, "More trouble than you're worth." 

My fist clenched and due to my slowly red filling vision I felt ice begin to form on the knuckles. 

"Take. That. Back." 

"Why? You know the truth now Descendant of Frost. You just got to ask yourself why they didn't tell you. Why your own Branch never told you." 

_Breath, he's winding you up._

I took deep breaths through my nose, remembering why I was here. His little titbit of info could wait. 

I took another deep breath, ready to pull my, slightly desperate, trump card. "Getting back on the original topic. I've told you before that you don't get non Descendants involved. The police have been called to the boy's home; it wouldn't take much for me to call them in. I expect there's a Descendant in the police force somewhere." 

It seemed to work and Pete's face paled. 

"If you do that, you won't find the boy." 

"The police would get it out of you." 

Pete's face became shrewd, thinking hard, possibly weighing up being held by HOG to being arrested by the normal police. We didn't have the authority to properly jail them, and probably wouldn't. The police on the other hand... 

"The hills just beyond the camp where you found us. He's there." 

"And how do I know you're telling the truth?" 

"You don't, you'll just have to trust me." 

I looked hard at Pete's face, and decided to believe him. 

"Alright."

I turned and began to leave, with a very confused Hannah not far behind.

"Be sure to put in a good word with your Heads!" Pete called after us, and I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.


End file.
